Entwined Fates
by Demented Koneko
Summary: AU Princess Sakura hates being trapped and so decides to runaway. But soon after her Kingdom is attacked and now she is the only one able to defend it. Will she be able to uncover her magical abilities, and who is this boy who has sworn to protect her?
1. Trapped by duty

**Authors Notes: **This is my first Alternative Universe fic so I'm not really sure if it's any good. I apologise if some the characters seem OOC due to the change of roles. Also a warning that there might be some hintings of shounen ai and shoujo ai. If you are offended by this then I suggest that you don't read. The main couple however will be eventually Syaoran/Sakura. 

With that said I hope you enjoy my fic. ^_^

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura, which was created by the lovely wonderful ladies of Clamp. 

****

Entwined fates: Chapter one

The young auburn haired girl sighed, staring longingly out of her bedroom window. For almost her entire life it seemed that that the things she saw out of her window were her only connection to the real world. The view was magnificent, but how could this possibly matter when she knew she could never be a part of it? Heaving another sigh she moved a way from the window. Her name was Kinomoto Sakura and although she may have looked like any other girl she was actually a princess. And as one would expect, she was quite pretty, blessed with long shining golden-brown hair and gleaming emerald eyes. 

To many, being a princess would be the greatest thing in the entire world. Sakura however thought very differently. Sure she could see why people might like the idea but she knew that it definitely wasn't everything it was made out to be. In fact she would have traded places with any normal girl for only one thing, the gift of freedom. With a fiery passion she hated being cooped up in the palace. Truthfully it was rather big but when you've lived in it for over fifteen years you were bound to know every corner, twist and turn so it wasn't like there was any new place to explore. She was free to roam the palace gardens which had plants even more beautiful than the ones described in books. She loved to walk in the gardens which seemed to go on forever but just like the palace it eventually got boring.

Now and again she would visit the city and would look forward to those trips for days before. Unfortunately her Mother and Father didn't allow her to go out as much as she would have liked, claiming that it was dangerous and that anything awful could happen to their little girl. Sometimes she argued back but was never able to come close to changing their minds. All she wanted was to have fun, make friends and walk through life making her own choices, not having all decisions made for her and being constantly told how to act. It frustrated her greatly that people would treat her like royalty and not like a real person. Even on her trips into the city she could not maintain a normal persona as palace guards were always ordered to accompany her. Everyone would make a big fuss about her being there and would bow and complement her when really she hated it when everyone made a big deal about her. In the end it would only cause her embarrassment. The girls there would look upon her with both admiration and jealously making Sakura want to yell at them and explain the restrictions that being a princess really brought upon someone. She knew that they would never listen though, too diluted in their dreams of royalty. 

"Idiots, they don't know how lucky they truly are." she mumbled, letting her body fall back on to the bed. "I'd gladly be out there, even doing some hard work than being stuck up here. Life isn't fair at all" she groaned as she buried her head into her pillow.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Sakura-hime, may I come in?" spoke a voice. 

"Yes." she answered quickly pulling herself off the bed.

A middle aged woman walked in and bowed. "Excuse me for intruding your majesty but the tailor has arrived and is in the fitting room waiting for you."

Sakura stared confused. "Tailor?"

"Yes. He is here to fit your dress for the banquet."

"Banquet? But Father just had one a couple of weeks ago!"

"Yes, but now he is arranging one for our country's new friendship with the Fuya kingdom. Didn't you know?"

"It must have slipped my mind…"

The woman broke into a smile. "The Kingdom has just received word of it and everyone is tremendously excited. I'm sure you must be too!"

"Oh uh, why yes of course." In actual truth she was dreading it. The rulers of Fuya had to be the most boring people Sakura had had the displeasure of meeting. The country of Fuya was very large and rather rich and although quite far from Kinomoto, Fuya and Kinomoto were able to from a good friendship and trust with each other. 

While Kinomoto wasn't a rich country it did however possess great beauty. Recently Kinomoto had presented Fuya with some of the countries finest arts and gifts in hope of developing a long lasting bond of friendship. Fuya had been flattered but Sakura was shocked at how expensive the gifts were and was sure that the by offering Fuya these gifts it was the only way to impress them and gain their friendship. Being rich and pompous, Fuya only accepted the best. As well as friendship, an alliance was made in that if ever either country were to be attacked the other would come air them in their time of need. Although Kinomoto hadn't being attacked for hundreds of years now and was indeed a peace loving country and given its history's nature would want to avoid war at all costs. 

Sakura was sure that everyone would be running around crazily trying to get everything ready, only the best for the Fuya-jin after all. "I hope I won't have to sit at the same table as the Fuya king's daughters." Sakura thought to herself. Last time she had seen them all they done was complain and talked only of themselves. But knowing her luck she probably would have to sit with them. She suppressed a sigh.

"I'm sure you will be anxious to see how your dress will turn out." said the maid still smiling with excitement. 

"Oh yes." she replied with fake enthusiasm. With that she followed the maid to the fitting room.

_Another afternoon wasted in such a futile activity. However I do suppose I wouldn't have anything better to do anyway._

****************************************************************

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in." 

A young brown haired man opened the door and entered. At the window sat beautiful looking woman. Quickly he approached her and bowed. "You wished to see me mother?"

"Yes, Syaoran. I just wished to inform you that the troops have left." 

"Left?! But-but when?" cried the boy in shock.

"They left for Kinomoto this morning." replied the woman, unsurprised by her son's reaction.

"But I thought- I wished to fight with them!"

"It would have been illogical to let you participate in such an affair. Besides that, something could happen to you."

"I'm stronger than ten of our best soldiers put together using only small portions of my power! Please let me help Mother! I'll make sure they get to Kinomoto without trouble. I'll make sure that they will not fail."

"Our soldiers are well aware of their task. I have faith in them."

_But you don't have faith in me. _"But-"

"Syaoran!" Instantly he turned away from his mother to see where the other voice had come from. "Father!" He bowed deeply as the man approached him. "I expect you to show proper respect to your mother as well as my decisions." The man said sternly.

"I am sorry Father. I did not mean to argue or show any disrespect to either you or Mother. Forgive me."

"The time in which you may show your true powers in battle has not yet arrived. I do know however that that time shall soon come. The only question is shall you be ready for it?"

"I will. I've studied hard and continuously. I know that I am ready to face whatever stands in the way of my path. I will serve and bring honour to the Li Kingdom no matter what it takes!"

"Your determination is inspiring but there is still great weakness in you. You are not as powerful as you perceive yourself to be. Rush in with an attitude like that and you will most certainly get yourself killed."

Syaoran's eyes widened. "But!"

"Accept what has been said and continue with your training. Instead of boasting your strengths find your weaknesses for within you there are many. They will be your downfall."

Syaoran clenched his fists together and looked away doing whatever he could to hide the distress his father's words had caused him. 

"I'm sure Hiiragizawa-san will be more than happy to assist you. You should go see him. He will help you achieve your full potential."

"You must realise that Syaoran is doing immensely will with his studies." said the woman in much softer tone.

"I'm aware of this. However in such times we need all the power we can conjure and simply put the boy is not yet strong enough. He needs to be, for he will play an important role in our quest for control and conquest."

"I understand. I will have Wei-san rearrange his schedule to add an extra hour of magic and combat training."

"Better make it two."

"Is that not a bit much? Anymore and I fear it will be inevitably too much for him."

"If he cannot handle this then he will be absolutely useless to our plans. I thought you a direct descendant of the great Li warriors would have understood that there is no room for failure."

"Do not worry Mother. I shall not let you or Father nor the Li Kingdom down."

"Let us hope not." replied the Emperor. "You are dismissed." 

Syaoran bowed and took his leave. 

"Yes the time will soon come."

"Kuso! I can't believe they still do not think I am good enough. I could take out the entire Kinomoto army myself!" Syaoran muttered angrily to himself.

"With such fabrications I can see why they are question you." came a soft voice. Quickly looking up he saw his older sister Fuuti standing there. "Onee-sama?"

"Surely you can't believe you are that strong?"

Syaoran gave an exasperated sigh. "Of course I don't but I know that I am strong. Mother and Father just don't seem to see this."

"I understand your frustration. No one likes for people to underestimate them but for our Kingdom to succeed we need a powerful heir. Mother and father are just nervous. Plus I am sure they wouldn't want for you to get hurt."

"That's what Mother said… But I really am trying my hardest."

Fuutie gave her younger brother a kind smile. "I know you are little brother."

"What are you doing over here anyway?" he asked curiously.

"I have something that I wish to discuss with Mother."

"She is with Father just now."

"Oh." Syaoran noticed that his sister looked disappointed.

"I'm sure Father won't mind being disturbed if it is something important."

She shook her head. "No, it's all right. I wish to speak to Mother alone anyway."

"Have you seen Eriol-sama?"

"No but it is more than likely that he is in his study chamber. You know how he likes his privacy."

"All right. Goodbye then!" 

Fuutie gazed sadly at her brother as he ran off. "Good luck with your training little brother." 

**************************************************************

Sakura skipped through the hallways happily. Her parents were not able to make it to dinner tonight so it would just be her and her elder brother, perhaps even Yukito would join them too. Touya was four years older than her and would soon become the King of Kinomoto. Sakura loved her elder brother dearly but because of his position she was not able to spend as much time as she would have liked with him. Touya was rushed about and told what to do even more than she. She felt sorry for him but he had Yukito of course. This made her slightly jealous. Tonight however they would talk about things that concerned them, not just Kinomoto and their duties. 

"Hello!" she cried as she ran into the dinning room.

"Yep, I told you it was her all right. You can hear those pounding footsteps from miles away." said her brother to the other young man standing next to him. "Are you sure you're a princess and not really a monster?"

Sakura clenched her fists together. "I am not a monster!"

"With an appearance and attitude like that it would be sure easy to mistake you for one." Sakura was just about ready to hit her brother when she noticed someone else standing there. "Yukito-san!"

"Hello, Sakura-hime." said the silver haired boy bowing. "I hope I'm not intruding. Since the King and Queen are unable to make it to night Touya-ouji invited me for dinner. Is that all right?"

"Hai! Of course!" replied Sakura cheerfully.

The young man smiled. "Arigatou." 

With that Sakura ran over to the table and sat herself down on a chair. Yukito-san was her brother's best friend and they spent almost all their time together. Yukito had always been around since she was born and also lived in the palace. In all honesty Yukito felt like a brother to her just as much as Touya did. Where Yukito had came from however she did not know. She knew he didn't have any parents so figured that perhaps someone who worked in the palace had found him and brought him to her parents who decided to keep him. Her parents didn't treat him as a son but allowed him to stay in the palace and enter the royal chambers where she, Touya and her parents slept. Maybe they had kept him as a play-mate for Touya.

"Sugoi! The food looks really amazing!" cried Yukito with delight.

"Hai!" agreed Sakura. She turned to her brother. "Onii-chan what have you been doing today?"

Her brother groaned and turned away. Sakura blinked in confusion. "Hoe?"

Yukito gave a small chuckle. "Touya-ouji has been preparing his speech for the banquet. However it isn't coming along so well."

"Yuki! I told you all ready that you don't need to call me Ouji!" groaned Touya.

"Gomen, I forgot that no one else was around. I sometimes worry that people might think that I'm not showing you the proper respect." he replied apologetically.

"We're best friends of course I don't expect you to call me that. Besides who gives a damn, what anyone else thinks?"

The silver haired boy smiled brightly. "Arigatou To-ya." Touya smiled upon hearing Yukito's nickname for him.

"Everyone else around here calls me princess so please don't you do it too." added Sakura gently. 

"Arigatou Sakura-chan."

The three went on through dinner laughing and enjoying themselves, and for a short time Sakura and Touya were able to forgot their duties and have fun. Sadly as dinner came to an end so did the fun. 

"I hate the dress I have to wear for the banquet." complained the auburn haired girl.

"It can't be that bad." replied Touya.

"It is! It's like an exact replica of all dresses I've wore before it! It's pink and so plain and boring. I'd rather go in peasants ropes than that."

"Well we all have to do things we don't want to." he justified.

"Yes, but it isn't fair! I swear sometimes I hate being a princess!"

Touya sighed. "Trust me when I say that you're a lot better off than a lot of other people in the world."

"Maybe so but I still can't stand this. I can't do anything for myself. From what I wear to the very thing I eat, they're all decided by someone else! And the duties I am forced to do have no meaning at all!"

"They are not meaningless. They are for the good of the country." he replied growing irritated by his sister's arrogance. 

"Nothing I do is for the good of the country! You, Mother and Father are what matters for the country! Mother and Father are rulers over the land soon you will be too. But what am I? I am a mere princess with no real purpose who is forced to go along with it!"

"Stop being so god-damned selfish!" yelled Touya finally. "I'm not exactly looking forward to having the weight of an entire country place upon my shoulders! I would much rather just be a prince and have someone else become King. But that decision is not mines to make and so I must do what I was born to do. I cannot deny my duties to the Kingdom and neither can you."

On the verge of tears Sakura pushed her chair out from the table and ran out.

"Sakura-chan!"

Touya grabbed his friend's arm stopping him from going after her. "Wait."

"But Sakura-"

He sighed and sat back down. "She needs time to think and calm down."

Frowning, Yukito nodded and followed Touya in sitting back down. "Will she be all right?"

"Sakura is actually a lot stronger than she looks and soon she will realise what she has to do."

"Poor Sakura, it must be difficult being stuck in the palace while all the other girls her age are outside free to roam where they like. You must feel envious too, To-ya." He pointed out sadly.

"I would be if I didn't have you. Over the years I've finally been able to accept what I must do for the country but Sakura has so much freewill and energy that the life of a princess isn't suited for her. I've noticed this for awhile now but I never realised how sad it was making her. I regret that I haven't been there enough for her."

The smaller boy held his head low. "I feel guilty that I've been able to spend so much time with you while Sakura-chan is by herself."

"It's nobody's fault. Besides Sakura would never hold it against you, she loves you."

Yukito smiled slightly. "Hai, I feel like Sakura-chan is just like a younger sister to me."

"Yes, she-" Suddenly he stopped.

"Toya?"

"I…"

"What's wrong?" the other boy asked worriedly.

The taller boy snapped out of it and shook his head. "Uh, nothing I think. I just had a strange feeling."

Yukito blinked. "A strange feeling?"

He nodded. "Yes, as if something were about to happen."

Yukito gazed at his friend with grave concern. Ever since they were little Touya had been able to sense things others could not. It was like a sixth sense almost. Yukito had though of it as an amazing ability but if something bad were to happen…

"Come on, I still have to work on my speech." announced the other boy getting up to leave.

"Toya, this feeling, what could it mean? Is something bad going to happen perhaps?"

"It probably wasn't anything at all, don't worry about It." replied Touya reassuringly.

Yukito gave a small smile and nodded. "Hai."

Touya frowned as Yukito walked in front of him. 

_I pray that it means nothing, for their sakes…_

***********************************************************

Syaoran knocked heavily on the large chamber door.

"You may enter." He went in and closed the door behind him. "I'm sorry to disturb you but-" He stopped realising that the sorcerer seemed to be in great concentration. He sat on a large chair with his eyes tightly shut. 

"I will be with you in a moment." he stated.

The chestnut haired boy nodded. Hiiragizawa Eriol was his mentor, the one who had taught him how to control and channel his powers, and although he looked only a year or two older than Syaoran, he was in fact over one hundreds years of age. And in those hundred years he had been a loyal servant of the Li clan and the strongest magician in the country. He had been teaching Syaoran magic since he was five yeas old and in the past ten years they had developed a special relationship. Syaoran had great respect and admiration for his master and one day hoped to be as strong as him. 

Lifting himself out of his chair he walked over to his young student. "The Emperor has sent his troops to the Kinomoto Kingdom?"

"Yes Mother said they left this morning."

The sorcerer sighed. "And so it is beginning." 

"What is beginning?" Syaoran asked curiously.

"You'll find out soon enough."

"I really wanted to go help fight."

"Don't worry you'll get your chance."

"Mother and Father, they still don't think I'm powerful enough to amount to anything." He stated sadly.

"What you need is patience, and I daresay so does the Emperor." replied Eriol. "The attack on the Kinomoto Kingdom happened a lot sooner than I had first anticipated."

"I-I'm sure Father knows what he's doing." 

"Yes, he does. He knows what he wants and how to get it. Anyway what is it that you came to see me about?" asked the blue haired man turning back around to face Syaoran.

"I was wondering if you could train with me now. Perhaps you could show me some new techniques, anything that will help me improve."

"Yes I thought that was the reason you came by but I'm afraid that I am in the middle of something gravely important at the moment." replied Eriol regrettably.

Syaoran's face fell in disappointment. "I understand. I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

"Not at all." answered Eriol kindly. "I sensed Fuutie-hime's presence earlier. Perhaps she will take the time to train with you."

"Yes, maybe." He still couldn't help but feel disappointed. His eldest sister was strong but seeing that he was next in line to rule the Kingdom he had a lot more training than her both physically and magically and was all ready stronger her. Syaoran frowned slightly realising that his sister had looked somewhat sad when he had seen her. 

"Well I will leave and let you get back to what you were doing." He said as he walked towards the door.

"Thank you. Syaoran-ouji we will train later I promise."

He smiled slightly. "Thank you." With that he left. 

"He is quite determined isn't he?" chimed a small voice. 

"Yes that he is." Suddenly a strange small cat like creature with wings appeared floating in mid air.

"Awww I wish I could train with him. He's so cute!" said another voice, and the next moment a teenage girl appeared.

"You would end up rendering him unconscious." replied the cat-like creature.

"Would not!"

"You don't know your own strength." 

"It was Eriol-sama who made us so strong!" she cried hugging her master.

"Do you think he realised anything what is about to happen?" asked the cat.

"No. I am afraid that poor Syaoran is too blinded by the Emperors desires as well as the rest of the Li clan to truly see what is going on." sighed the navy haired man.

"Do you think anyone else is aware?"

"If they are then it is most likely that they would keep their worries to themselves. Speaking against the Emperors wishes is one of the highest disrespects after all."

"So it shall continue as prophesied?"

"I am afraid it will, Spinal-sun."

"What will we do now then?"

"There is nothing that we can do. For now we will just have to wait."

"Aw but waiting is so boring!" wailed the girl.

"I understand how you feel Nakura but please be patient." he said gently stroking his creation's face.

"Okay…"

_All we can do now is wait…_

*************************************************************

Nightfall came and Sakura had finished packing her things. She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't stand being locked away in this place any longer. Her brother couldn't possibly understand how she felt. She had been trapped away in this cage of loneliness for to long and now this was her chance to escape. The Kingdom would be fine with out her. Her parents were the only ones allowed to make decisions after all. And after that Touya would take their place.

She crept down the hallway to her brother's room. She longed to stay for longer but she knew she had to leave now. If Touya found her he would try to prevent her from going. She took off her necklace and bent down placing it at the corner of her brother's bedroom door. She was sure he would see it. She just wanted to show him that even though she was leaving she still cared. 

"Onii-chan I love you so much, but I'm afraid I can longer stay here. I hope that one day I will be able to see you again. Please take care of Mother and Father and especially Yukito-san. Farewell…" With that she faded into night hoping to finally escape this prison once and for all.

**Authors Notes: **I hope that was all right and not too bad. I guess it's a big change for Syaoran who in the anime and manga acts like he hates Eriol, whilst now he admires and has great respect for him, lol. I read somewhere that Fuuti is the name of Syaoran's eldest sister, so sorry if I made a mistake and got the name mixed up with one of the other sisters. .I apologise for any grammar and spelling mistakes. No matter how many times I look over it, there still seems to be lots. -_-;

Any feedback or advice on how I could improve would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading. ^_^


	2. Dresses and soldiers

**Authors Notes: **Thank you lots to heheangel kisses, HanaTenshiHimeko, anime_girl01 and TheMysticWarrior for reviewing. It's appreciated very much.

TheMysticWarrior- Nyah, yeah my grammar sucks. *sweatdrops* I should get an editor, but the trouble is finding one. Anyway hope this chapter is all right.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. It is owned by the wonderful ladies of CLAMP.****

Chapter 2: Dresses and soldiers

The auburn haired girl walked nervously down the street wearing a long flowing cape which hid her features. Although it was unlikely that anyone would recognise her she still could not take the chance of being caught. Night faded into day and Sakura found her self grateful for this considering it would be awfully suspicious if someone were to spot her wandering around during the middle of the night. Although the sun had only just risen a short while ago, there was a large number of people awake and outside all ready. Most were preparing to for work or getting ready to open their shops and stalls.

Taking a deep breath she stopped and asked an old man for directions for the nearest exit out of the city. Startled at first by her hooded appearance as if he were about to be robbed, he soon calmed down after hearing her angelic voice. Thankfully it turned out that one of the exits was not to far from where she was at that moment. But just as she was ready to leave something caught her eyes. In the direction the old man was going there were lots of shop, stalls and other various things. Softly she bit her lip. She loved going to the market but she really should be leaving as quickly as possible. Of course not surprisingly, the urge to look about took over her and she followed in the same direction as the old man had gone. It had been along while since she had last been here and if this was going to be her last time then… _Oh a quick look around won't hurt._

As she walked about her mood soon lightened realising that there was now no one staring at or whispering about her. Best of all no one was bowing to her. She always felt slightly embarrassed when people did that. From now on she was just like any other person. "This is great!" she cried to herself, finding it difficult to hide the overwhelming she felt. 

As the morning wore on she started to become hungry. "I have some food in my backpack but…" Suddenly she was struck by a great idea.

"More please!" she cried happily at the top of her voice waving her hand in the air. One of the waitress's serving her looked like he was about to have a heart attack and everyone else in the restaurant turned around to see was all the commotion was about. "Ah… sumimasen…" she stuttered in embarrassment.  _"So much for keeping a low profile."_She thought to herself. Then again no one would expect a princess to act in such a manner so she would probably be okay.  She was supposedly sitting in the restaurant that made the best pies in the entire country. She had always wanted to come here and try one but her mother never allowed it saying that what the cooks prepared in the palace was far superior. Sakura felt that it was nice to prove her wrong for once.

"Here you go." said a woman as she placed another blueberry pie she had ordered down in front of her.

"Arigatou!"

The woman smiled at her. "I knew our restaurant had a good reputation but I've never met anyone as excited as you are about our food."

Sakura went slightly red. Maybe she was being a bit over enthusiastic but she couldn't help it, finally she was free and could do whatever she wanted now. It all felt too good to be true. 

"Next ones on the house." said the woman.

"Oh no, I could let you do that!" Sakura cried instantly.

The woman laughed. "I couldn't live with myself if I charged a cute thing like you for something she seems to love so much."

Blushing, she thanked her. If her brother had been here he would have called her a monster for eating so much but that woman had just said she was cute. _"Onii-chan is such a meanie sometimes." _

After she stuffed herself with as much as she could, she left to explore more. This place really was wonderful and she slowly she started to feel sad that she had to leave it so soon.  

Suddenly she felt something thud into her leg almost causing her to topple over. Looking down she saw that it was only a ball. "Hoe?" She bent down and picked it up.

"Gomen nasai!" cried a voice. Looking around she spotted a little girl running towards her. "Sorry the ball is mines. I really didn't mean to hit you!" apologised the little girl bowing. Oh well at least she wasn't bowing for the same reason as everyone before.

Sakura pulled her hood down again and smiled. "Don't worry about it." She replied kindly as she handed the little girl her ball back.

 The girl smiled back. "Arigatou!" With that she ran away. "Bai-bai Oneesan!" she cried waving. 

Sakura couldn't help but squeal a little. "Kawaii."

"Mitsu!" Sakura looked up to see a little boy running over to the girl. "I told you not to wander off alone!" the boy said crossly. 

"Gomen Onii-chan." 

He sighed and took her hand. "Mother and I were worried about you."

"I'm okay."

Although he sounded angry, Sakura noticed he looked more relieved than anything else. "That's good. Now let's go home before Mother becomes even more worried."

"Hai."

Sakura felt a pang of sadness as she watched the little girl walk away with her elder brother. "Onii-chan…" Quickly he shook her head. She couldn't be thinking about her family just now. If she did she feared that she would change her mind in leaving and if she did that she knew she would live to regret it. A few moments later she walked away. For now she had to forget such things.

In an attempt to get her mind off of it she noticed a small shop near by. Walking over to it she could make out rather interesting and unusual clothes through the window. "Is this a costume shop?" Curiosity getting the better of her she decided to go inside and have a look about.

 A small bell rang as she entered and from what she could see no one else seemed to be inside. For such a small shop it had a lot of things in. After having a short loom about she came to the conclusion that it wasn't a costume shop at all but a dress store, only it had some rather peculiar designs. "Sugoi!" she cried as one of the dresses caught her eye. "I've never seen a dress like this before." It was green and cream with rather unusual patterns on and some bells hanging from the bottom of it. "I wonder who designs them."

"That would be me." Sakura jumped and turned around.

A girl stood there smiling. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you."

Sakura scratched the back of her head. "Tha-That's all right. Uh, I'm sorry for snooping about."

The girl shook her head. "No by all means please look about as much as you would like."

"Thanks." replied Sakura with a small smile. The girl smiled back. Sakura couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked. She had long dark hair, pale skin and dazzling blue eyes. The girl's pale skin actually reminded her of Yukito-san.

"These dresses are really amazing. I've never seen anything like them before and-" Suddenly she stopped. Maybe these kinds of dresses weren't unusual at all. Maybe she had just been stuck in the palace so long that they were now considered beautiful and normal. Slowly she began to panic. 

"Yes that is what most people say when they come into my shop."

Sakura let out a sigh of relief. Okay, then she wasn't the only one who thought they looked strange. "I usually take it as a compliment. It shows that my designs are different and unique which is what I am looking for."

"They definitely are different." replied Sakura still staring around in awe.

"Would like to try this on?" asked the girl.

"Uh-" But before she could even answer she was being pushed into the changing room. "Here let me help you take off your cloak." Deciding that there was no escaping Sakura took her hood down, but the moment she did so the girl instantly stopped fussing over her looking as if she had just a ghost. 

Sakura stood in confusion.

"You-you're-"

"Hoe?"

"SAKURA-HIME!!!" 

Sakura hit the floor instantly. "Nani?! How-how did you figure out who I am so easily?!" she exclaimed in dismay.

"This is absolutely wonderful!" cried the girl. "I've wanted to meet you for so long now! I've been a fan of yours since I was eight!"

"Fa-fan?"

"I've always dreamed of the day I would finally be able to meet you. I just knew it would happen some day!"

Sakura found herself uncomfortable and awkwardly embarrassed.  Many people had been excited about meeting her, but none like this girl! "You-you can calm down." She stuttered. "I mean it's not like I'm a famous idol or anything."

"Oh but you're my special idol! And to think that you actually liked one of my designs!" she cried, stars in her eyes. "This truly is the best day of my entire life!"

Sakura sweatdropped. 

"Here you go." said the girl placing a plate of biscuits on the table.

"A-arigatou."  After all the confusion before Sakura finally discovered that the girl's name was Tomoyo.

"It's such an honour to have you here, Sakura-hime."

"Oh you don't need to call me that. Sakura is fine."

"But shouldn't I show some respect to the Kingdom's princess?"

"You really don't have to. Beside I'm no longer a princess anyway."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh nothing!" she replied quickly forgetting herself.

"All right then if you do not wish me to address you as princess then I shall not continue to do so, Sakura." She smiled. It was nice to here her name with out some stupid honorific attached.

"Oishi!" She exclaimed as she took a bite of one of the biscuits. 

The silver hair girl smiled. "I'm glad you like them. Please help yourself to as many as you would like."

"Really? Thanks!" she cried before shoving another one in her mouth. Just as she was about to take another one she stopped. 

"Is something wrong?"

"I just realised it must be weird for you seeing a princess acting this way." Sakura replied in embarrassment. 

"What do you mean?" Tomoyo asked in confusion.

"Uh well princesses are usually so well behaved and have lots of manners but I'm sitting her stuffing my face. Sorry."

Tomoyo rapidly shook her head. "Not at all! If anything seeing you enjoying my biscuits so much makes you even cuter! You're even more adorable up close."

Sakura blushed and mumbled thank you. "Um so who makes the clothes you design?"

"Oh, I make them myself."

"Yourself?! You mean all those clothes down there, you made them?!"

Tomoyo shook her head. "No not all of them. A lot were made and designed by my mother also. She opened this shop when I was very young."

"Ah, so this is your mother's shop then. Is she here too?"

"No my mother is not here I'm afraid. Sadly she passed away a few years a go."

Sakura's eyes widened with panic. "I-I'm really sorry! I didn't mean-"

"Please don't feel bad about it, there's no way you could have possibly known. Besides I have learned to accept it now."

"Does-does your father live here then?"

"My father has also passed away but I was very young so I can't particularly remember that much about him."

"You mean you like here all by yourself then?" asked Sakura in shock.  

Tomoyo nodded.

"But-but don't you get lonely?"

"I suppose I do at times but I know that both my mother and father are watching over me so I don't feel as sad." She replied with a smile.

Sakura stared in both shock and awe now. This girl lived alone without her parents yet she was still able to smile so wonderfully. _Tomoyo__ doesn't feel alone even when she doesn't have her family here with her. I have my family and I always feel alone._

"Is something wrong, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked in concern.

"I-I ran away because I was lonely…" she stated sadly. "I no longer wanted to be a princess so I ran away. I know I will miss my family. Especially Oniichan and Yukito, but-but I can't take it any longer. I hate being a princess. I hate that everyone thinks that it's great when it really isn't. But most of all I hate the loneliness and isolation. So in the end I did the only think I could do, runaway. They will be worried about me and have probably started searching but…" Slowly tears started to run down her cheeks. "I don't want to return. I don't want to feel alone anymore."

Tomoyo gazed at her sadly. "Sakura…"

"I guess I must pretty pathetic right now." said Sakura wiping the tears away from her eyes. "So much for princesses being wonderful and special… You must be disappointed finding out that your idol is nothing more than a spoiled little brat."

"You must not say such a thing!" cried Tomoyo raising her voice slightly. 

Sakura looked up in confusion. "When I look at you at you I don't see the slightest hint of what you just said being true. I've watched you come into since I was young and you always wore such a lovely smile and you still have that smile to this day. It's impossible for someone with such a smile to be selfish. Besides I have not been let down at all, in fact you're more wonderful than I could have possibly imagined."

"Tomoyo…" With more tears welling up within her eyes she wrapped her arms around Tomoyo and hugged her. "Arigatou!" 

The other girl blushed slightly and smiled. "I am glad I could help."

"Sorry if I'm being a bother."

"Not at all."

Sakura pulled away and sighed. "I don't know what I should do."

"I understand how you must feel but is running away really the right thing to do? I'm sure your family would be extremely worried about you and would be sad if they were never to see you again. Would you not miss them also?" Tomyo asked softly.

"Hai… I-I would. I would miss them, but…"

"But if you were to return you would be sad?"

She nodded. "I wish I could stay, that way we could keep each other company and-"

"Here?"

"Yeah. I uh mean- Ah sorry what am I saying? I mean we hardly know each other and-and-"

"I would really like it if you could stay here too." replied Tomoyo quietly. "But in the end you will probably have to return, won't you?"

"I don't want to return but you're right, running away isn't the answer. In the end, I'll have to return…"

"You could come visit. I mean if you wanted to that is."

"Really?! I-I mean I would like that… Ne, Tomoyo, let's be good friends."

Tomoyo nodded and smiled joyously. "Hai. I would like that a lot." Suddenly she broke into a scream completely shocking Sakura. 

"What's wrong?!" 

"Sakura-chan!"

"Hoe?"

"Since we are going to be good friends I must call you Sakura-chan! It just radiates with cuteness!" she exclaimed.

Sakura sweatdropped. "Ano…"

"Promise me that you will try on some of my dresses! They would look so wonderful on you I'm sure!"

"Ha-Hai…"

"I must get to work on some new designs as soon and possible. I have an idea that I'm sure would-" Suddenly she stopped.

"Um, what's wrong now?" asked the auburn haired girl. 

"I-I thought I heard something."

The two girls remained silent for a moment. "I hear it too!" cried Sakura. Quickly they got up and ran to the window after realising that the noise was coming from outside. 

"Na-nani?!" Hundreds of men in strange foreign robes were marching through the streets pushing past anyone who was standing in their way.

"Sa-Sakura-chan, what is happening?"

In all truth she had no idea what was going on either. "I-I-" Slowly she noticed the swords attached to the men's sides. "They-they're soldiers!"

"And they aren't from Kinomoto?" said Tomoyo all ready knowing the answer. "Those robes, I've never seen them before. Do they belong to one of Kinomoto's allies?"

The auburn hair girl shook her head, overcome with panic. "No, none of the countries I have visited have had such ropes, and if one of the allies were to come into Kinomoto they would have most certainly announced before coming. My father and Mother never mentioned it, and if they had been coming today Oniichan would have said something last night at dinner."

"Could it be that they are enemies?"

"Enemies? No it couldn't possibly be! Kinomoto is a friendly and welcoming kingdom that does not get involved in conflict. They would have no reason to want to fight us."

"Sakura-chan, they are heading to the palace." Tomoyo pointed out as she started to become scared.

"No it couldn't… We couldn't be under attack. Could we?" Clenching her fists together she got up. "I have to leave. I must get back to the palace and warn my family!"

"But it could be dangerous!"

"I know. I just have to get there before they do."

"But you couldn't possibly make it in time, and if the soldiers started to surround the palace there would be no way for you to get in!"

""I have to try!" she cried before running out. 

"Sakura-chan!"

_Mother… Father…Yukito-san… Oniichan… Don't worry, I'm coming…_

*********************************************

"To-ya, the castle is completely surrounded!" yelled Yukito frantically as he stuck his head out of the window.

"Chikushou! The guards won't be able to hold them off for much longer!" growled Touya.

"To-Toya? Who are those soldiers? Why-why are they attacking Kinomoto? What reason do they have for attacking? Kinomoto is a friendly peace-loving country; it would never want to go to war with anyone!"

"Unfortunately they don't seem to feel the same way. We haven't done anything that could possibly want to make the Li kingdom to attack us! Bastards…"

Yukito stared in confusion. "The Li kingdom?"

"Yeah, it's a large country that's quite far from here. Kinomoto and Li haven't exchanged words in years."

"If that is so then why are they doing this?"

"I don't know but to sum up their country quickly, it is the exact opposite of Kinomoto."

"You mean they don't need a reason?" the silver haired boy asked in shock.

Touya nodded. 

"I-I don't understand this… They-they appeared so suddenly. Why didn't anyone warn your parents of this?"

"They would have killed anyone before they got the chance…"

"Sa-Sakura-chan! She's still out there!"

"Damnit, all the guards and soldiers have been summoned back to defend the palace." The prince stared regrettably at the necklace he held in his hand. "Idiot, running off at a time like this… Then again, maybe she's safer out there…."

"Ouji-sama! Ouji-sama!" yelled one the guards bolting into the room. "The palace! They-they've entered the palace!"

All the colour drained from Yukito's face. "Al-already?!"

"Ouji-sama you must leave the palace before they-"

"No."

"What? But sir-"

"I must stay here and defend the castle."

"No he's right To-ya! You must get to safety before it's too late!" cried Yukito fearing for the safety of his best friend. 

_It...It has begun… Could it be that this was destined to happen? I think…I think I understand now…_

Touya quickly grabbed his best friend's hand and started to run. "Hurry we must go!"

**********************************************************

Sakura ran down the streets as fast as she possibly could. She had to get back home no matter what. Mentally she cursed herself for leaving, asking herself why she had left in the first place. Why the hell did they have to come at a time like this? Why did they have to come at all? It was likely that they where all ready at the palace by now, but still Sakura had an overwhelming urge to reach there. She couldn't stand the thought of her family getting hurt. Her family had protected her all here life and now she wanted to protect them, even if there was not much she could do. She just wanted to be with them.

Suddenly she felt a heavy blow from the back of her head, and before she even had the chance to comprehend what had happen everything slowly went black…

**Authors Notes:** I hope that was all right. Lol, hope I didn't make Tomoyo seem too annoying, I just love the way she gets so excited over Sakura in the series.

Any feedback or advice on how I could improve would be greatly appreciated. Arigatou for reading! ^_^ 


	3. Shocking discoveries

**Authors Notes:** Thank you to saKuRaStArS, Tigerdrake and heheangel kisses. Nyah, gomen about the spelling/grammar mistakes last chapter. *Is such a baka * _;;

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. It is owned be the wonderful ladies of CLAMP. 

Chapter 3: Shocking discoveries  

Slowly the young girl opened her eyes, feeling herself return to consciousness. A small glowing light shone in her left eye, she winced and closed them again. Without having a chance to look about she knew that this was not her room, she could sense it somehow. She knew she should open her eyes again and take a look at her surroundings but the pain that swelled in her head made her rethink. What had happened? Where in the world was she? Why did her head hurt so much? Where was her family? Damn, all these questions were hurting her even more. Deciding that it would hurt either way she slowly opened her eyes. It took a minute or so for her vision to un-blur and she was greeted by a dreary wooden ceiling. 

She moaned slightly as she gradually managed to push herself up. Before she even had a chance to look around she heard a loud cry. 

"Sa-Sakura-chan! You're finally awake!" 

Sakura-chan? Only Yukito called her that. Suddenly a raven haired girl came running towards her. 

"I'm so happy that you are all right!" Without warning the girl threw her arms around her. 

"Ho-Hoe?" She stared at the girl in confusion. 

"I-I was so worried. I thought that you might never wake up." stated the girl with relief as she wiped a tear from her eye. 

"How-how long have I been asleep?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Almost five days now. A man found you lying on the ground unconscious and was going to take you to a nurse who resided nearby. Luckily I ran into him whilst looking for you, and he told me he was going to drop you off as he and his wife left town. He was going to travel by cart so I begged him to take us with him. He disagreed at first claiming that you needed medical attention, but I pleaded with him and he finally agreed. I thought that given the circumstances it was best to get as far away from Kinomoto as possible."

"But why would I want to leave Kinomoto? And why was I unconscious?" She thought for a couple of moments until suddenly the memory hit her. She winced slightly and grabbed on to her head, the rushing return of the memories causing her intense pain. 

"Sakura-chan, are you all right?!" cried Tomoyo.

"I remember now. I-I ran away from home and I met you at that dress shop. You were nice to me and we were talking, but then I looked outside and the streets were filled with soldiers. I left and started to run home to warn my family but I felt something hit me and all of a sudden everything faded."

Tomoyo nodded slowly. 

"But-but where are we now?"

"To be honest, Sakura-chan, I'm not all that sure. I know that we are a little far from Kinomoto now. The man dropped us of at this Inn about three days ago and gave me money to pay for us to spend the night."

"I am sorry for being such a nuisance." replied Sakura apologetically.

 Tomoyo shook her head and gave a small smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you are awake and that you are not hurt too badly."

"Arigatou, Tomoyo-chan."

"The woman who owns the Inn has been more helpful than I. When you first came to the Inn you had a large cut on your leg. She was able to treat it before the infection spread too much and also bandaged it up for you."

Sakura pulled down the bed cover slightly, revealing her bandaged left leg. Unfortunately now that she knew it was there, it began to sting a bit. 

"Misumara-san had been up to check on you a number of times and kindly allowed us to say here for free because of your condition."

Sakura smiled. "That's wonderful! I will have to thank her for her kindness next time she comes in."

"I'm sure she will be very happy that you are awake now."

"Hey you must be starving!" cried Tomoyo quickly standing up. "I'll go down stairs and order something to eat, okay?"

Just as she was about to leave Sakura suddenly stopped her. "Tomoyo-chan, wait!"

The blue eyed girl stopped and turned around. "Hai?"

"Tomoyo-chan, what-what happened to Kinomoto? It-it's all right isn't it?"

The joyous look on face instantly faded. "Sakura-chan…"

"Nobody got hurt or killed did they? I mean my family are fine, aren't they?" 

Tomoyo walked back toward the bed and knelt down. "I-I didn't want to tell you just now. I mean you have only just woken up and-and…" She stopped, looking like she were about to burst into tears at any moment. 

"To-Tomoyo-chan?"

"The Li kingdom has invaded Kinomoto. There objective was to kill the royal family and take over. They are still there but… I-I don't know what has happened to your family…. Sakura, I-I'm so sorry…"

Despite the words hitting her with an immense impact, it took her at least a few seconds to register what the other girl had just said.

"But… I… I… don't understand… This can't be possible. It just can't be. Who is the Li kingdom? For what purposeful reason would they want to attack us?! We-we haven't done anything wrong! Why-why use such a force to attack our Kingdom? It just can't be true! It just can't be! Mother… Father… Yukito… Oniichan… What-what if they are… What if they are…?"

"Sakura-chan…"

"Noooo!!!!!!!!" she screamed, clutching her head as intense pain surging shot through. 

"Sakura-chan!"

No it couldn't be! Her family had to be all right! They just had to! How could something like this possibly happen?! It wasn't right! It didn't make any sense at all! These people had been with her since the day she was born, they had taken care of her. They couldn't be dead! 

Finally as the pain became too much, her mind gave in forcing her unconscious again.

******************************************************************

"What do you mean you haven't found her?!" bawled the emperor of the Li kingdom. "Why didn't you kill her like the rest at the palace?!"

"My lord, forgive me for saying so, but we do not think she was present in the palace to begin with." replied a dark haired man nervously. "Our soldiers infiltrated the palace the moment they reached Kinomoto and split up and searched the whole area. She was no where to be found."

"Well she must be in the city! You're guarding every exit aren't you?! There's no way she could have escaped, anyone caught trying to escape was to be killed instantly!"

"I assure you, my lord, no area in the Kinomoto Kingdom has gone unchecked."

"So you let her escape then!?"

"No! We-we have-"

"Don't feed me your pathetic excuses! You let her escape!" Furiously he grabbed the man by his collar and threw him against the floor. "Your will find and kill her! With her still alive my plans will not be able to commence!"

"Actually if she dies your plans will not be able to take place at all." spoke another voice.

The Emperor turned around to see the Kingdom's most powerful sorcerer standing in the room. He glared angrily. "What are you talking about?"

"I did some research into the origin of the Clow chamber and according to Clow-sama's own words only those of the Kinomoto clan are able to open the portal." The navy haired man replied calmly. 

"What the hell are you saying?! That only a Kinomoto-jin can control it?!"

Eriol shook his head. "Not necessarily. The blood from those of the Kinomoto clan active the seal, the chamber would open revealing the portal and he or she who were to open it would be in control of its power. However, if they were killed before the portal activates then the person nearest to them would therefore gain control of the power."

"So only a Kinomoto can activate the seal, eh? Oh, and I've just gone and killed most of them." He smiled. "No worries. We'll just capture the girl; make her bleed and the portal will open for us."

"Sadly, it is no that simple, my lord." 

"What now!?"

"Do you recall Clow-sama's guardians?"  
"Cereberus. Yue. Yes. But what do they have to do with the Clow chamber?"

"Everything I am afraid. It is only through their awakening that girl will be able to open the chamber. Only when she has both guardians by her side will the chamber open."

"Where are they now?"

"My research has yet to show. I do however have a slight feeling that the princess will find out soon enough."

"But how could anyone possibly know? Only the Li clan has access to such confidential information regarding Clow-sama!"

"Clow-sama indeed was a mysterious fellow." replied Eriol smiling faintly.

"He often travelled and as you know married someone not of Li blood. It wouldn't surprise me if information got passed on through to his wife's clan. They too were one of the major clans to deal with magical forces."

"That!-" suddenly he stopped and took a deep breath. "Like I said, there are no worries. I have the perfection solution to this little problem."

"And what would that be, my lord?"

"It's time for the little wolf to prove himself…"

*******************************************************************

Six hours had pasted and Sakura was now awake again. She had finally stopped crying but didn't feel any better, in fact she only felt worse. Both girls sat in silence and Tomoyo glanced over at the princess numerous times feeling horrible that she was unable to do or say anything that would make Sakura feel any better. She felt so useless.

_I should have been there with them when it happened… I never even got the chance to say goodbye…_

Frustration building up, Sakura struck the mattress with her fist. "Damnit! Why the hell did I even want to runaway in the first place?!"

Tomoyo bit her lip and timidly said, "May-maybe it was a good thing that you where not there with them. Although inside I am greatly mourning the lost of my kingdom's rulers, I am glad that you are still alive and that makes me extremely grateful. If you where at the palace at the time of the attack, I dare say you may have been killed. I'm sure your family are happy that you were not there with them so you wouldn't be put in danger."

The auburn haired girl nodded slightly, her eyes staring at the ground. _Tomoyo-chan is probably right. But…_

"I know this is a terrible time, but I really think that we should leave here as soon as possible. If the Li kingdom were after your family then they would probably be after you too."

"But I'm just a princess. I'm of no importance to the kingdom."

Tomoyo shook her head slightly. "Forgive me for saying so, but if you are the only one left of your family, then you are indeed very important. You are the only one left who can stand in the Li kingdom's way for the throne. If anything were too happened to your elder brother and if he had no children of his own, which he does not, then you would become the new ruler of Kinomoto."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Yes, that is how it works. But me the ruler of Kinomoto? I-I couldn't possibly… I don't know the first thing about ruling a kingdom. I wasn't really taught such things…" replied Sakura uneasily. 

Again, how could this be happening?

"I think it is best if we get as far away from Kinomoto as possible." stated Tomoyo. 

"But, what about the people of Kinomoto? What-what will happen to them? If the Li kingdom is there then I doubt they will let anyone leave. They-they're been held prisoner in their home! And if I am next in line for the throne then it is my duty to protect the people of Kinomoto. I just can't leave when they need me… Innocent people are being hurt… I-I have to help them somehow…"

"It is good to meet a princess that cares for the welfare of her country and people." spoke a voice. Both girls looked up to see and an old woman standing at the door. "I am glad to see that you are finally awake, princess."

Tomoyo gasped. "Misumara-san! But-but how did you know that Sakura-chan is a princess? I-I never mentioned-"

"And it's a good thing you didn't. I could easily have been a spy from the Li Kingdom. It definitely isn't a good idea to give out your true identity when hundreds of soldiers are after you. However, I could hear your little conversation from outside the door. Be more careful, anyone could have heard."

"We-we're sorry!" cried Sakura in apologetic tone. "I promise that we will be more careful in the future!"

"I should think so." replied the woman before placing a small tray of food she was holding on to the table. "Now then, how are you feeling?" she asked in a softer tone.

"I-I feel better thank you. Thank you for allowing us to stay here and for bandaging up my leg. I don't know how I can thank you for hospitality. You've been so kind."

"In that case, please eat something."

"Oh, umm… thanks but I really don't feel very hungry just now…"

"Nonsense, in your condition you need to eat something!" shouted the woman, shoving the plate in her face.

"A-Arigatou…"

"If you wish to save your kingdom then you will definitely need to be at full strength."

"Yes, but I don't even know how I can possibly help them." she replied dejectedly. "Onii-chan, what would you do?"

"I know a way you can stop them."

Her face lit up instantly. "Really?!"

"Please tell us, Misumara-san." pleaded Tomoyo.

"The best way to undo this mess is to open the Clow chamber."

Both girls blinked in confusion. "Clow chamber?"

"Yes. It is located under the Kinomoto royal palace."

"There is a chamber under the palace?"

"Yes. It has been for hundreds of years."

"But my Mother or Father, nor Onii-chan had ever mentioned anything about a secret chamber."

"Of course not, only few including myself know about it. If lots of people knew then everyone would be fighting to open it."

"I don't understand. How can a chamber possibly help us defeat an army? Even if we sneak through the chamber into the palace, we till wouldn't be able to stop the soldiers."

"You've got it all wrong, this chamber is special. It is guarded my magic, and once opened it will grant your hearts desire."

Now Sakura was completely perplexed. "You're saying that if I open the chamber it will grant me any wish?"

"Oh how wonderful!" cried the dark haired girl in excitement. 

"That means I could wish for peace and for the Li soldiers to leave! Please tell me, where a bout's in the castle is the chamber?" pleaded Sakura.

The old woman sighed sadly. "Alas it is not that simple. Like I said the chamber is guarded by powerful magic of that of the sorcerer who created the chamber."

"Then how is it that I can open it?"

"Somewhere across the lands sleeps Clow Reed's two guardians, Cereberus and Yue. It is their job to protect the chamber's seal. To open the chamber you must find and awaken them. If they find you to be worthy, them they shall give you their blessing and accompany you back to Kinomoto where the chamber is."

"I'll do it!" shouted Sakura as she shot straight up. "I will awaken both Cereberus and Yue and save the kingdom from disaster!"

 "The journey will not be easy. No doubt you will face many dangers and hardships along the way. You will need incredible will power to face what lies before your path. Do you think yourself strong enough to take on such a quest?"

"I-I think so." The auburn hair girl replied apprehensively.

 "Where do the two guardians reside?" queried Tomoyo curiously.

"The location? Well um… actually to be honest I don't really know where they are." replied the woman scratching the back or her head in embarrassment.

Both girls sweat-dropped.

"Then how the hell does that help us if we have no idea where to look!?" demanded Sakura angrily. 

"You will know." The woman said calmly.

"What do you mean?"

"Your magical abilities and senses will contact and reveal to you if you are close to the guardians. That is how you will know."

Sakura blinked. "Magical abilities? Um, I'm pretty sure I don't have any of those."

"What do you mean you don't have any magical powers?! Every person in the Kinomoto family has magical abilities of some sort!"

 "Really? Could my parents and Onii-chan really use magic? I never knew that. Are you sure?"

The old woman sighed. "The rumours are true. The Kinomoto kingdom really is out of it."

"Hoe?"

"Anyway, whether you know any spells or not, you still have magical abilities. I can sense them from you."

"Sugoi!" cried Tomoyo excitedly. "So you're saying that Sakura-chan has magical powers?!"

"Yes, although they aren't very strong. But nonetheless they are extremely strong for a person who claims to have never used magic in her life before. For this journey you will definitely need the aid of your powers, and the more you use your magic the more they will develop allowing your strength and ability to increase."

Sakura blushed slightly. "I always wondered what it would be like to be some sort of magician. But I don't know how to use this magic..."

"Don't worry about that." replied the woman placing her hand on Sakura's head. 

"What are you-" But before she could get an answer, the Inn keeper started murmur strange words.

Suddenly Sakura felt a powerful light burning up from inside her. Her body, it was as if she were floating… Everything slowly fading away…. 

_What… What's happening? _

_"I am feeding you some of my own magical power."_

_Feeding?_

The women let go, stumbling a little, and Sakura instantly felt herself return. Quickly Tomoyo rushed to help Misumara-san regain her balance. "Daijoubu desu ka?!"

"Yes. I-I'm fine."

She turned to Sakura and worriedly asked, "Are you all right? What just happened?"

"There, you should at least be able to do a simple attacking and shielding spell." stated the women slightly out of breath from the magical transfer.

"You mean I am able to use magic now?"

"Yes, but now is not the time to show you how. Eat up, get some sleep, you must leave as soon as possible. Many soldiers will be hunting you and if you don't want to harassed by any of them, then you must leave at once."

Sakura slowly nodded.

"I am sorry but I must leave now. If I stray away from my duties for too long then it might raise suspicion especially among the locals. If bribed then they would probably tell the Li kingdom anything they wanted." 

The old Inn keeper opened the door. "Goodnight then. I will see you in the morning." And with that she left, leaving both girls staring in awe.

"What… what just happened?"

**Authors Notes:** I hope that was all right, and again sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes. *sweatdrops* 

Any feedback or advice on how I could improve would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading. ^_^


	4. A journey begins

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. It is owned by the wonderful ladies of CLAMP.

Chapter 4: A journey begins

"Eriol-sama! Eriol-sama!" yelled the chestnut haired boy as he ran into his mentor's chambers.

"Good morning, Syaoran-kun." greeted the sorcerer politely.

"The Emperor chose me! He selected me for the mission to track down the Princess of Kinomoto!" cried Syaoran enthusiastically.

"Yes, I am aware. Congratulations Syaoran-kun, it is a very important task and also a great honour that you were chosen for it. I am sure you will do your best."

"Hai. I promise that I will not fail. I want nothing more than to prove myself worthy to both my Mother and the Emperor. I know that my Mother will worry but I am both old and strong enough to take care of myself."

"Yes, but you will not only be taking care of yourself now.  As the Emperor has all ready said, you must make sure that no harm befalls the Princess before the chamber is finally opened."

"Yes, if anything happens to her then the whole plan will be ruined, and I won't let the Li clan down, the Kingdom is depending on it."

Eriol smiled softly. "I am sure you will do great."

Syaoran blushed slightly. "A-arigatou, sensei. It is because of your training that I have been able to come this far. I promise to make you proud."

"I am sure you will. Well I suppose that you'd better get going now, no telling what trouble the little Princess is getting into without her mighty protector by her side."

"She'll be able to hold her own till I get there."

"I hope you're right." replied Eriol trying to suppress a chuckled. Syaoran blinked in confusion.

"I will leave now."

"Good luck, Syaoran-kun."

"Farewell sensei, I shall return soon." He replied before leaving.

Eriol smiled as he watched his young student leave.

"Bye, bye Syao-chan!" cried Nakura as she ran out from the other room once Syaoran had left.

"So it has begun. Both have left on their journey." stated Spinal sun as he floated beside his master.

The reddish haired girl pouted. "Aww I wanna go on a journey too! It's so boring being stuck here all the time!"

"Don't complain." said Spinal Sun who could not be bother listening to his fellow guardian's whining.

"Yeah but the only time that we have been out in the real world was the time when we went to visit the Mizuki shrine with Master!"

"Do not fret Nakura, it will not be long before everything is finally in place, and then you will be able to go out into the real world, but until then please be patient." He said in a gentle voice.

"Yay!" She wrapped her arms around her master, smiling once again.

"Are you sure the boy will be able to handle the task expected?" asked the floating cat-like creature. "He is strong but…"

"Syaoran-kun has a lot of hidden strength that he has of yet been able to summon. Soon that power will emerge. I have faith in him. He is my student after all." replied Eriol with wink.

"Yeah Suppi-chan don't be such a worry wart!"

"There's not wrong with being cautious and stop calling me Suppi-chan!"

"Aw but it sounds so cute." She argued playfully.

"That is not my name!" he retorted growing angry.

"I know that. It's your cute nickname!"

"I don't care for any nickname. Call me by my real name!"

"Aw, Suppi you're so boring!"

"There you did it again!"

Eriol passively stared out of the window. "Good luck Syaoran, for you will need it."

Sakura had accepted the Inn keeper's advice and was preparing to leave. She had spent all of yesterday thinking things over, yet still nothing made sense. She also couldn't help worrying what had become of her family. Apart of her all ready knew, but still there remained a part that refused to even think about it. It was now very early in the morning and they had decided to leave at this time since the Mimura-san had said it was best to do so before any of the other lodgers were up.

She hadn't been able to get much sleep last night and had spent a long time just sobbing into her pillow praying that she wasn't being too loud as to disturb Tomoyo. When she woke up this morning she found that she had extra time to spare before needing to get up and be ready to meet Mimura-san. Surprisingly enough though Tomoyo was all ready up and dressed. Sakura feared that perhaps she had awoken her last night and she was unable to get back to sleep because of it. Either that or it was nerves. Who wouldn't be frightened in going on a treacherous journey such as this? However when Tomoyo saw her awake she greeted her warmly and offered to help her get ready. She didn't seem nervous at all, or either she was just very good at hiding it. Sakura on the other hand was terrible when it came to hiding her emotions.

Given the extra time they had, Sakura got Tomoyo to cut her hair to just about shoulder length. If she was going to be roaming the lands with hundreds of soldiers after her, then it was definitely better to look as un-princess like as possible. Although Tomoyo claimed that it was a shame to cut off such beautiful long hair, Sakura was quite pleased with it. She had always wanted short hair but her Mother had made her keep it long. Besides the fact that she liked it, it was suited better for journeying and wouldn't get in the way if she were running which unfortunately she would be doing a lot of.

"Sakura-chan, it's time to leave." stated Tomoyo after she had finished making the bed. Sakura nodded and quickly lifted up her backpack.

 Closing the door gently, they quietly crept down stairs to the kitchen trying not to wake any of the tenants up and then stood beside the back door where the Inn keeper had told them to wait.

"Look." said Tomoyo pointing to the counter were there were two bowls and some bread. "I imagine these are us. Misumara-san said last night that we should eat something before we leave so as to keep up our strength."

Yet again she didn't feel much like eating but like the old woman had said she really did need to keep up her strength for the journey ahead, plus she had also mentioned that if she was too tired or worn out then her magic would not work.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice." She said to herself as she stood by the counter and started to eat.

_It's strange, I feel much stronger since Misumara-san transferred some of her magic into me. She said that as time goes on I'll feel even stronger and learn more. But-but what if the magic doesn't work for me? This journey will be difficult… What if I'm not strong enough to handle it, I'm just a princess after all. But Kinomoto is counting on me. If I don't find those two guardians and open that Clow chamber thing then things could become disastrous. Oh, I wish Onii-chan where here, he'd know what to do._

"Sakura-chan, are you all right?" Tomoyo asked worriedly noticing that her friend continually kept phasing off.

"Oh I-I'm fine." replied Sakura, giving her a small smile.

Tomoyo returned the smile. "I am glad."

"Anou… Tomoyo-chan…."

"Yes?"

"You-you really don't need to come. I mean you don't have to come if you don't want to. It's going to be very dangerous and I would feel terrible if anything were to happen to you. I mean you have helped me out so much all ready. I mean if it wasn't for you then I would still be back in Kinomoto and the soldiers from the Li clan would have found me."

Tomoyo quickly shook her head. "Please don't concern yourself with that. I am glad that I have been able to help you, but I want to help you more. The journey would be awfully lonely by yourself, and if I were to stay here then I would worry about you too much to be at peace with myself, thus I am better off going with you. I may not know any magic but I would like to accompany you. Besides friends always stick together, ne?" she replied her finger pointing upwards and winking.

Tears filled her emerald eyes as gazed at the kind smiling girl. "To-Tomoyo-chan…" Instantly she threw her arms around her. "Arigatou!"

"Let's do out best and look out for each other." added Tomoyo happily.

"Hai!"

"With your wonderful newly discovered magical abilities you will be able to defend yourself against enemies and fight against the forces of evil, and I will be there right by your side ready with my pad to take notes."

Sakura blinked and stared for a moment in confusion. "Notes?"

"Hai, I asked Misumara-san if she had a notepad and she gave one to me. Now I will be able to record your amazing battles through my writing. And once the fighting ends and everything is back to normal, the people of Kinomoto will be able to learn of the dangerous and fierce battles their dazzling young Princess went through for their sakes and for their beloved country!" Stars shone brightly in her eyes. "Oh, it will just be so wonderful!"

Sakura sweatdropped, noticing the weirdness was returning back to the other girl. "To-Tomoyo-chan…"

"Are you girls ready then?" asked the Inn Keeper as she suddenly walked into the room.

Both nodded.

"Well you'd better leave now then. The sooner you leave, the less chance you have of being caught."

"Misumara-san, I want to thank you so much for everything you have done for me." said Sakura before bowing. "Is there any way I can possibly repay you?"

"You can repay me by retrieving the two guardians. The fate of the world is resting on your shoulders."

"Hoe? The-the world?"

"Yes, there's no telling how far the Emperor of Li will go with his plans of ruling."

Sakura looked ready to collapse. "So-so what you're saying is that fate of the entire world is down to me finding those guardians and opening the chamber thing?!"

"Ah, don't be so worried about it now." replied the old woman patting her encouragingly on the back. "I'm sure you'll do fine!"

"I think I'm going to be sick…"

"I imagine we'd better be going now then." The raven haired girl pointed out.

"Ha-hai…"

"Good luck to both of you!" the woman called out to them as they started to walk away, although not as loud as to wake the others who were saying in the Inn. 

"Farewell Misumara-san!" they yelled, waving goodbye.

"Wait!" Sakura cried suddenly. "The spells you gave me, how do I use them?"

The old woman smiled softly. "You will just know." And with that she went back inside and closed the door.

"Ano…"

"We better take her advice and go quickly." suggested Tomoyo.

"Sakura nodded and swiftly they left.

The emerald eyed girl stared intently at the sun above. It was ironic how the sun could be shining so brightly above while below everything was in complete chaos. Although they had only left the Inn a few hours ago, Sakura's legs were all ready aching. She stopped and sighed. "I'm definitely not used to walking this much."

"Would you like rest of a little while?" offered Tomoyo who to Sakura didn't look in the least bit tired.

Sakura shook her head. "No, it's all right. Let's keep on going,"

"Hai."

She couldn't afford to sit and rest now, she had to carry on with her journey or risk being caught. Sadly she thought of her people back in Kinomoto. _I am doing this for them, and my family. _

As the hours raged on they continued to walk forward although they had taken many short breaks in between due to Sakura being constantly out of breath.

"Sakura-chan, the map that Misumara-san gave us indicates that there is a cross road up ahead. Which path shall we take?" asked Tomoyo as she studied the map in her hands.

"Um, well I guess we could continue walking straight."

"Is that where the guardians are?"

Sakura gave a small sigh. "I really don't know. I have no clue as to which way we should go. Misumara-san said that when near then I should be able to feel their presence but I don't feel anything at all."

"This creates a problem then." replied Tomoyo with concern.

"For all we know they could be in complete opposite direction from the way we're heading!" screamed Sakura in frustration.

"I suppose in away it is just like a treasure hunt."

"We don't have time for treasure hunts!"

The auburn hair girl let herself fall down on to her knees. "How did I get in this situation?! I just wanted to be a normal carefree girl and now this happens. I don't want the responsibility of the world on my shoulders!"

"I'm sure everything will turn out all right. We just have to do what Misumara-san advised us to do and keep our faith." spoke Tomoyo sad to see Sakura so dismayed.

"I know. But it's just so-"

"Well, well, well, what have we got here, eh, lads?"

Both girls instantly looked around to see a large man standing there grinning dirtily at them. Suddenly several other men appear from trees and bushes near by. Looking around Sakura realised that they were now at the cross roads. She had been so busy worrying that she hadn't even noticed.

"Oooh, I was expected one of them wandering cooks to come by next but I must say this is much better."

Judging from their ruffled appearances and scoundrel looks, they were no doubt thieves who hid away until some innocent unsuspecting person walked by and then would mug them.

"Now what would you two lovely young maidens be doing wandering out here all by yourselves?" asked the large man.

"Yeah it's dangerous out here you know." said another.

"And you just ran into it."

Sakura gulped and took a small step backwards but they were surrounding them.

"We just wish to travel through." Tomoyo spoke up trying to sound as calm as she could.

"You want through, eh? Well sorry my dears but that's gonna cost you."

"And I assure you that the price ain't cheap."

Tomoyo bit her lip and gazed up at the man apprehensively. "I am very sorry but unfortunately we will not be able to give you any money. You see we really need the small amount of money we have for our journey. It is very important so please would you be so kind as to let us through?" she pleaded softly, and bowed.

"Boss, what the hell is she talking about?"

The large man raised one of his eye brows and snickered. "So you can't pay us can you? Well then don't you worry about that, am sure there's another way you fine young ladies can pay, am I right lads?"

The men started to laugh and suddenly Tomoyo and Sakura felt themselves being grabbed by the men.

"What are you doing?!" cried Tomoyo.

"You have to pay us some other way don't you?"

Sakura screamed loudly only causing the men to laugh louder. "Stop! Help! Please someone help me!"

"No one can hear you from all the way out here!" laughed one of the men holding her. "You may as well save you breath, well at least until your payment begins."

_No this can't be happening!___

"I think I'm gonna start with this one." declared the leader grabbing Tomoyo by her chin.

"Tomoyo-chan!"

Holding her by her hair he pushed his lips into her face, Tomoyo unable to struggle due to the tight grip he had on her hair.

"No stop!" screamed Sakura struggling with all her strength to get free.

"Ooh I don't think this one can wait her turn." chuckled one of the men holding her.

"Give her over here then!" yelled another.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She had to do something! She had to save Tomoyo! Tomoyo had volunteered to come even when didn't have to but now she was the one who was in trouble!

_'Let's do out best and look out for each other.'_

_Tomoyo-chan… How can I possibly find the guardians and save Kinomoto if I can't even deal with common thieves?_

Sakura's eyes instantly shot back open as she heard Tomoyo's loud scream. She threw her head around in Tomoyo's direction to find that as well as kissing her the man now had his hand down her top. "Stop struggling you little bitch!"

At that moment Sakura felt immense fury erupt from inside her. "TOMOYO-CHAN!!!!!"

Suddenly the men surrounding her were all tossed backwards. "Leave us alone!" A green ball arose from Sakura's palm and she shot at the men causing them scatter and scream. She had no idea what was going on. All she knew was that she must protect Tomoyo.

As she turned towards Tomoyo's harasser he instantly let go of her breasts.  "You better let her go!"

"You-you're a witch!" shouted the man trembling in fear. He shoved Tomoyo aside and grabbed a near tree branch. Enraged he ran towards Sakura with it ready to strike her. But the moment he got within a meter of her he was thrown backwards. The rest of the men had all ready started to fun away and with one last attack she sent him cowering away like the rest.

A few moments later she fell to her knees, a strange dizziness coming over her.

"Sakura-chan!"

 "I-I… did it." With that she blacked out.

**Authors Notes: **I hope this chapter was all right. And I apologise for any grammar/spelling mistakes. Thank you lots to heheangel kisses for reviewing last chapter. I wasn't sure whether to continue posting because I thought no one was reading. ;;

Anyway arigatou for reading, any feedback or advice on how I can improve would be greatly appreciated. ****


	5. The kindness of a stranger

**Authors Notes: **Gomen for taking so long to update. Baka me. Arigato to SaKuRaStArS, heheangel kisses, Lotus and Rosie for reviewing last chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. It is owned by the lovely ladies of CLAMP.

Chapter 5: The Kindness of a stranger

Slowly Sakura opened her eyes. For some reason she felt extremely dizzy and somewhat weak as if she had being running so much that she had ended up collapsing, nonetheless she still managed to pull herself up. But before she could even get a glimpse of her surroundings she heard a loud squeal that could only belong to one person.

"Sakura-chan, you're awake!" The ivory haired girl quickly scurried over and then sighed in relief. "I was worried, I thought that you might have ended up sleeping for another three days just like last time."

"How long have I been out for?" asked Sakura embarrassed.

"About five hours I think." replied Tomoyo.

Looking up at the sky she realised that it was night time all ready. Tomoyo had made a small fire so that had been where the light was been coming from.

"I'm sorry for being so much of a nuisance." said Sakura, feeling guilty once again.

As expected Tomoyo shook her head and smiled. "You're no trouble at all. Besides if it had not been for you who knows what those horrible men would have done to us." Suddenly her voice became higher. "The way you used your magic, it was absolutely amazing! It was even better than how I imagined it. I have never seen anything so possibly wonderful before!"

Sakura blinked. "My magic?" She gazed down at her hand, the fires bright glow reflecting off it. After a few moments of potent concentration all the memories of the experience came rushing back to her all at once. She had been absolutely furious when she saw what that man was doing to Tomoyo. It was like as if she had just exploded and then all those men were tossed backwards. A green beam like light had shot out of her hand and some kind of shield had protected her, preventing those men from getting close to her. Sakura found that she was now staring intensely at her hand. It didn't look any different but… It was only now that Sakura realised how frightened the situation made her feel. She had been so enraged while it had happened that there hadn't really been enough time for her to feel scared.

"I managed to write down every detail of what happened down in my notebook!" cried Tomoyo waving the notepad about excitedly.

"Wha-what do you mean?" asked Sakura confused. Tomoyo happily handed her the book and quickly she skimmed through parts of it.

_And thus the beautiful young princess using her astounding magical abilities vanquished the evil forces that threatened her and her friend. After a vigorous battle she delicately laid herself on the ground allowing time for her to recover from such a pain-striking battle._

"Ho-Hoe?"

"That man was right you really are just like a witch!"

"What do you mean?!" asked Sakura in shock. "Witches are horrible people and very ugly! Not to mention they do awful things!"

"Oh not all witches are like that. Actually some are the exact opposite of what you just described. In one of the books I read as s child, there was a young girl about our age who was learning to become a witch and she was really nice character. The reason that she wanted to become a witch was so she could learn magic to help people." claimed Tomoyo.

"Really?"

Tomoyo nodded. "In fact you remind me of the girl in the book a lot. Although seeing you display your powers was a lot better than what I read in the book!"

Sakura gave a small smile. "I guess it was pretty amazing."

"Hai!"

_I guess Misumara-san was right; I really do need magic for this journey. Those men weren't even the people who are after us. I'll definitely have to thank her again. Well, that is if I ever see her again._

"Sakura-chan are you feeling any better now? I'm sorry I got so excited about your magic that I forgot to ask."

"I'm still feeling a bit tired and fuzzy but I should be all right."

Tomoyo smiled. "I'm glad. Well since it's night all ready, shall we get some rest and go to sleep?"

Sakura nodded in agreement. She had just woken up but what she said was true, she was still tired.

Both girls scrimmaged through their backpacks for the blankets Misumara-san had provided them. They weren't particularly soft or warm but they would do.

As she started to lay out her blanket, Sakura gazed curiously at the stars. "This is my first time sleeping outside." she stated not taking her eyes off them.

"When Mother took me with her to other towns and villages to see if she could sell any of her dresses we used to sleep outside. During the summer when it was warm outside we decided not to waste our money on paying to stay the nights in Inns. I didn't mind though. I loved being outside, I would always gaze upwards at the stars until I eventually fell asleep." replied Tomoyo, smiling softly at the thought of the memory.

"When I was little I always wanted to see what it felt like to sleep outside but my Mother would never let me. It annoyed me but thankfully I found that I had a great view of the stars from my bed room window so I could gaze at them as long as I wanted to. Still, I'm glad that I get to watch them this way."

"You know I read in a lot of books that if you wish upon the brightest star in the sky, your wish will come true."

Sakura's face instantly lit up. "Huh? Really?!"

"Hai. I wished every night on the brightest star that I would one day be able to meet you. And eventually I did!" Sakura sweatdropped. "I was so happy when my wish came true!"

She blushed slightly. The way Tomoyo talked about her made her out to be someone really special. Sakura didn't think herself special at all, well at least until a few days ago. Unfortunately though she was special in way she wished she wasn't.

A short time later Tomoyo fell asleep and although Sakura was the most tired of the pair, she found that she had too many things on her mind to sleep.

_I...I wonder if your wish really can come true. Tomoyo-chan's did, but my wish isn't at all simple. But still maybe I should…_

Slowly Sakura placed her hand over her heart and gazing at the brightest star in the sky she made her wish. But as soon as she did she couldn't help but feel silly. This frustrated her. If your wish really did come true from wishing on some star then everyone would have had their wishes granted. The whole idea was completely foolish. Sure Tomoyo had had her wish granted but that was all just a coincidence.

Sighing inwardly she rolled over no longer wanting to waste her time on the stars. _I don't think there is any star powerful enough to change my fate… 

* * *

_

A few days had now passed since the incident and thankfully they had been able to avoid anymore trouble. Tomoyo had suggested that it was best to stay away from any towns in case they accidentally ran into some soldiers. Still even if they did, Sakura had her magic. The only problem was that she wasn't exactly one hundred on how to use it properly. The Inn keeper had said that over time her magical abilities would increase and become stronger but did that mean she needed to practice? Then again she had no idea how to practice either. The only time she had felt her magic strongly was when that gang of bandits had attacked her and Tomoyo, but afterwards she had felt exhausted. Would that happened ever time she used her powers?

When Misumara-san had transferred some of her powers to her she too had seemed tired afterwards. If that was the case then perhaps it wasn't the best idea to use magic unless they were in trouble, after all she wouldn't be able to ward of attackers if she was collapsed on the ground exhausted. She groaned slightly, cursing herself for not asking the Inn keeper more about it.

"Oh my." said Tomoyo looking slightly worried.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't seem to have any more food left in my backpack. We must have finished it all last night we ate and not realised it."

"Wait and I'll check mines." replied Sakura as she stopped and opened her back to search through it. "Eh?! I haven't got anything left either!"

"Oh my."

She whimpered slightly. This had actually been the first time she had wanted to eat anything since this whole ordeal had started. Her mind had been plagued with all that had happened that eating didn't seem at all important. Tomoyo however had made sure that she still ate.

"What will we do now?"

"It seems that we have no other option but to go into the next town we come across and stock up on food. I'm pretty sure that the next village isn't too far from here." replied the other girl pointing at her map.

"Hai! Let's go then!"

* * *

"Ano… Tomoyo-chan, that map doesn't by chance mention any good places to eat, does it?" asked Sakura, holding her stomach as if dying from hunger.

"I don't think we-"

Suddenly Sakura stopped as a wonderful smell filled her nostrils. Quickly looking about herself she spotted a small restaurant. "Ah yatta!" she cried as she started to run towards it. "Tomoyo-chan, let's eat in here!"

Tomoyo frowned slightly. "I think it is best if we just buy our food from the bakers. We don't have a lot of money and if we're lucky the bread will be cheap."

Sakura turned away from the window in disappointment. "All right then."

"Exuse me? Did you just say you were unable to afford to buy a meal from here?" came a voice.

Sakura quickly turned around to see a rather handsome man standing there gently smiling. He had light blonde hair and aqua eyes. "A-Anou…"

"Please come in." said the man extending his arm outwards.

"But-"

"Don't worry." he replied softly, still smiling. Nervously she nodded and followed him. Tomoyo who had been watching quickly ran in after her. He directed them to a table and pulled out two sets. "Here you go."

"Um thank you."

"Now what would you two lovely young ladies like to eat?" They stared at each other in confusion.

"Um I'm afraid we're unable to spare the money we have to buy anything." stated Tomyo slightly wary of what was going on.

The man laughed. "Yes I know, and that is why I am kindly going to treat both of you to something to eat."

"You can't do that!" cried Sakura in protest. "It-it's really all right. We can just buy bread with the money we have."

"You could but I refuse to let you do that. You see, I cannot stand pretty young ladies like yourselves not getting what they want. And that disappointed look you had on your face when you discovered that you wouldn't be able to get that lovely meal you had desired, well that just killed me. So being the gracious man that I am, I decided to treat you two ladies to dinner."

"You're so kind!" Sakura piped happily.

"And you're so cute." said the man, flashing his smile causing Sakura to blush.

After deciding what they wanted, the man went up the counter to place their orders, and while Sakura sat with a smile on her face, Tomoyo on the other hand looked slightly uneasy.

"The man is so kind to buy us dinner, ne?" Suddenly she noticed the look on her friend's face. "Tomoyo-chan, what's wrong?"

"I… I have a bad feeling about this."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Misumara-san she said to be careful who we talked to and if we could, avoid as much contact with people as possible."

"But he seems really nice, and if he was really nasty and evil then he definitely wouldn't be buying us dinner."

Tomoyo gave a small nod. "I suppose…"

"There you are." said the man as returned and placed their meals in front of them.

"Is there any way we could repay you, I uh mean that doesn't involve giving you money?"

"Actually there is something you can do. Would you be so kind as to tell me the names of the pretty girls I have the honour of dining with?" he asked politely.

"Hai. This is Tomoyo and my name is Sa-"

"Tsuki!" yelled Tomoyo loudly causing both Sakura and the man to stare at her confusedly.

"Pardon?"

"Her-her name is Satsuki." she replied glancing nervously at Sakura.

Not sure what to do Sakura played along with it. "Ha-Hai. My name is Satsuki, that's my name."

"Tomoyo… Satsuki… Such pretty names…"

"Um, what is you're name?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Oh how rude of me. My name is Ryoji."

"That's a nice name."

"Why thank you, but not as nice as yours. Anyway, how are your meals?"

"It's delicious!" cried Sakura who if hadn't been taught proper table manners would have probably been shoving the food down her throat.

"I am glad." Suddenly he noticed that the other girl wasn't eating anything and seemed to be somewhere else. "Is something wrong? Do you not like it, miss?"

Waking from her thoughts Tomoyo quickly shook her head and replied in her usual kind voice that she was enjoying it very much.

As Ryoji queried to where they were from Tomoyo hastily told him that they were travellers before Sakura could open her mouth. If Sakura told him that they were from Kinomoto then that would definitely create suspicion and lead to more questions. It turn out that Ryoji too was a traveller wandering the lands with a group of friends. He explained that they where over in the near by Inn but he had came alone to get something to eat.

"They really do get on my nerves at times." he laughed. "So then what about you two, will you be staying at the Inn?"

"Um well we're trying to save up as much money as we can so we've decided just to sleep outside. Uh I means it's not like we're going to sleep in the dirt or anything, we-we uh have blankets!" replied Sakura quickly in embarrassment, unable to help but feeling like some sort of cheapskate.

"I heard that it's supposed to be quite cold tonight. And well being the generous gentleman that I am I cannot allow you two young women to sleep outside where you will be cold all night and even become sick. Therefore I am inclined to buy you a room where you may spend the night until you continue with your travels."

"What?! You can't do that!" yelled Sakura pushing herself away from the table. "You-you've all ready done so much all ready! You've bought us this wonderful meal, we couldn't possibly accept anymore from you, especially when we haven't done anything to repay you!"

The man laughed. "You can pay me back by accepting my offer."

"De-demo!"

"Now then, since we have finished out meals shall we go then?"

Tomoyo glared at him slightly as he started to walk away. What did this man want with them? Why was he being so kind and generous when he didn't even know them? Her eyes fell on Sakura who was walking behind the man. She trusted him so easily, completely ignoring the possibility that this man wasn't all he seemed to be. Then again Tomoyo couldn't blame her. She was a princess after all and probably had other people do everything for her. Sakura-hime wasn't expected to judge people.

_I guess I will have to do the judging for both of us. I won't allow Sakura-chan to get hurt. But for now I guess I have no choice but do like Sakura-chan and trust him…

* * *

_

After Ryoji had paid and seen the girls off to their room, he returned to his own room.

"Oi Ryoji! Where the hell have you been?!" yelled one of the men who he was sharing a room with.

"The captain's going ballistic, you know." said another.

He just smiled and then flopped himself down on one of the beds. "Sorry gentlemen, but duty calls."

"And just what the heck do you mean by that?"

"Don't tell me, another damsel in distress." An older man sighed, rolling his eyes.

He gave a small chuckle. "Something like that yes."

"And just what was the dire situation this time?"

"Oh nothing serious, just rescuing two beautiful young girls from starving and freezing outside tonight."

"What?! You're saying you bought them dinner and somewhere to sleep?!"

He nodded casually.

"The captain will kill you if he finds out you've been wasting our money like that!"

"Oh relax. We've got plenty of money to keep us going."

"Yeah, but not from the captain's perspective."

"So are you gonna pay those girls a visit tonight in their rooms?" snickered one of the men.

Ryoji pushed himself up and crossed his arms. "Why Ryosuke, I'm shocked that you'd even think I'd ever to such a thing. Unlike the rest of you sleaze balls, I have principles."

"Hey well if you're not gonna go then at least give me their room number so I can take advantage of the situation!"

Ryoji narrowed his eyes. "You know that if you ever tried something like that I would kick your ass."

"Oh all right, all right. After the captain I definitely know not to mess with you."

A few moments later the captain actually appeared. "Ryoji, where the hell have you been?" he demanded.

Instantly he leapt off the bed and straightened himself up. "I just went to get something to eat and have a quick wander around the premises, Sir."

"This isn't a damn sight seeing vacation, you're here on duty!"

He bowed in apology. "I'm sorry, Sir."

"Well it better not happened again!" Sighing he turned to the rest of the men. "Anyway we finally have a lead. I managed to require a photo of the rulers of Kinomoto." He said as he took and old crumpled paper out of his pocket. The men quickly gathered around.

"Oooh, that's the queen of Kinomoto?! She sure is a dish!"

"Sir, but aren't they all ready dead? What good will a picture do us? Aren't we supposed to be searching for the Princess?" Ryoji questioned in confusion.

"Because the girl we're after is no doubt gonna look like her parents. If we know a possibility of what she might look like then we have a better chance of finding her."

"God if she looks like her Mother then I don't know if I'll be able to kill her." said Ryosuke drooling over the picture.

"You'll do what the hell I tell you do!" yelled the Captain grabbing the photo from him. "Here, one of the Royal artists's made a painting of what she might look like." He said as he pulled out another picture.

After catching a glimpse of the painting, Ryoji who stood behind the other men pushed them aside and took hold of the picture. His eyes widened. Bright emerald eyes like the Queen, auburn hair like the King's...

"Remember this is only one possibility of what she might look like. Her name's Sakura so if you hear that name act immediately."

Ryoji took a step back suddenly.

_"My name is Sa-"_

_"Tsuki"_

_"Ha-Hai.__ My name is Satsuki, that's my name."_

"It-it can't be…"

**Authors Notes: **I hope this chapter was okay. And I know its taking long but Syaoran and Sakura will meet soon enough. ; As usual gomen for my crappy spelling/grammar. No matter how many times I look over a chapter using Microsoft word they still seem to lots.

Any feedback or advice on how I could improve would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! I'll try to get chapters out quicker since I have more time seeing it's the summer.


	6. Guilty deceit

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. It is owned by the lovely ladies of CLAMP.

Chapter six: Guilty deceit 

The blonde haired man sighed as he waited for his drink. Why did this have to happen? Out of all the girls in the world why did it have to be her?

_"Are you sure that this is a picture of the royal family, Captain?"_

_"Of course I'm sure! And I want her dead!" bawled the Captain snatching the picture back. "One of the roads here comes straight from Kinotmoto so there's a good chance that she could pass through here, and I want us to be the ones to find her. The Emperor would reward us greatly if we were the ones to kill her. That's why I want at least one man at watch at all times."_

_The soldiers yelled upon hearing this. "But Captain!"_

_"No buts. And instead of warming your lazy asses, why don't you go scan the area!" _

_The men reluctantly complied, cursing under their breaths as they left. Ryoji on the other hand stayed glued to the spot._

_"Didn't you hear me? I said get the hell out of here!"_

_"Um Captain, may I see that picture again?"_

_"What? Don't tell me you're like the rest of those morons and wanna drool over the little brat we're supposed to kill?"_

_"I just want to memorise it so I can be sure it's her if I see her." The Captain handed him the picture. He stared intensely at it, still unable to believe it. _

_"You know if you get her, you'll be promoted for sure. Hell I hope to get promoted. You might even get to shake the hand of the Emperor."_

_"Yeah…"_

_"Your old man would definitely be proud."_

_Ryoji__ looked up with surprise. "My father?"_

_"Yeah.__ I thought you said he was a soldier serving in one of the top ranks of the Emperors army."_

_He smiled somewhat sadly. "Yes he did. He died in the line of duty though."_

_"There's nothing more honourable than dyingfor the sake of your Country and from what you've told me about him kid, he sounded like a brave man."_

_"Yes he was…" Retaining a sigh, Ryoji handed the picture back to the Captain. "Well I guess I better get searching." With that he walked away._

There was no mistaking it, that picture was definitely of that girl from earlier. She was the Princess of Kinomoto for sure. What he couldn't understand however was how in the world she had managed to escape the Li army. He sighed sadly as he thought of her beautiful smile. It was amazing how someone could smile like that when there Kingdom had just been invaded and their family killed. Did she even know about her family? The thought would have definitely occurred in her mind.

A woman placed a glass on his table but Ryoji was too deep in thought however to bother thanking her. _She must be a lot stronger than she looks. Plus she's damn cute. _He took a large gulp and placed the glass back down on the table with a small thud. At this moment he wished for nothing more than to drown himself in alcohol until he fell unconscious and then wake up to find that this whole thing had been just a dream.

When he was a child his father held a top rank in the army. Like his Mother and the rest of his family, he admired his father greatly and was extremely proud of him. The downside however was that he never got to see him very often. He was sad and lonely, but when his Father came home it was wonderful. He would tell him hundreds of stories of all the amazing things he and his comrades had seen and done. He explained that everything he did was for the sake of the Emperor and the country.

_"One day you too will join the army and serve your country just like your Papa, won't you?"_

_"Hai, Papa! I can't wait!"_

_"It won't be easy though. To reach where I am you must be willing to give and sacrifice anything and everything for the honour of Li."_

_"Everything?"___

_"Yes. The only thing that matters is the Emperor's wishes."_

_What would you do in this situation Father? Would you really sacrifice those two innocent girls for the wishes of one man? _A few moments later he gave a hollow laugh. _What am I saying? Of course you would. I mean you sacrificed everything else didn't you? But can I? _

Taking one last drink, he got up and left. He quickly hurried to the two girls' room before any of his comrades spotted him.

Gently he knocked on their door. "Who is it?" came a voice which belonged to the other girl Tomoyo.

"It's me, Ryoji!"

He found that it was a few moments before he heard any locks being opened. Was this hesitation perhaps? Given their situation he imagined there should be.

"Hello." greeted Tomoyo. What was the ivory haired girl's connection with the royal family?

Sakura quickly ran over seeing that it was him. "Konbanwa Ryoji-san!" she greeted gleefully.

He put on a fake smile. "Hello there. Just wanted to come over and check that the room is all right."

"It's great! Thank you so much for paying for us to stay the night."

"I told you before that you don't need to thank me." For some reason hearing her thank him caused him guilt.

"I know. But it was just so kind of you."

"To be so kind, Ryoji-san must have to be a very kind man." added Tomoyo smiling.

He stared at her curiously for a few moments. "Uhhh…."

"Is something wrong?" asked Sakura looking concerned.

"Wrong? Oh, no, no. I'm just tired that's all." he replied quickly, pretending to yawn.

"Same here. Since we have a bed to sleep in tonight we've decided to make the most of it and go to bed early."

"I see. Well I guess I better be going then."

"We'll see you in the morning to say goodbye."

"You-you're leaving that soon?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah, um you could say that we don't like to stay in one place to long."

He smiled. "I understand. I suppose being in one place too long can sometimes be dangerous. Well I'll go to bed early too so I can get up in the morning and bid you farewell."

"That would be great!" replied Sakura merrily.

"Have a good nights sleep then. Oyasumi nasai."

"Oyasumi nasai!"

After the door closed, he let himself fall back against the wall, placing his head in his hands. This was the most difficult decision he was ever forced to make. But he had to do it. Taking a deep breath he walked back to his room and entered. _I truly am sorry…

* * *

_

Sakura hopped down the stairs humming merrily to herself. "Ryoji-san!" Looking about she spotted him sitting at an empty table. "Ohayo gozaimasu, Ryoji-san!"

"When you said you were leaving early, you really meant earlier didn't you?" he said, seeing as the sun had only rose a short while ago.

"You're up early yourself."

"Yeah well, I wanted to say goodbye."

"Thank you. That was very kind of you." replied Sakura with a smile.

"Oh, where's Tomoyo-san?" he asked noticing that the violet eyed girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Tomoyo-chan went to buy some food for our travels. Since you where coming to say goodbye she suggested that I stay here in case I ran into you."

Ryoji was relieved to hear this. The thought of killing two innocent girls made him sick, but at least this way one life would be spared. Also it was only the Princess they wanted, but he knew the Captain wouldn't hesitate to kill any witnesses.

"I'm I was able to meet you."

"So am I." he replied, flashing a convincing fake smile. "When will Tomoyo-san return?"

"She said she wouldn't be too long and that she would try and hurry back."

"Oh in that case I think there's still time to show it."

"Show what?"

"Well near here there is a large spring. It's gorgeous, the loveliest I've ever seen. It's not far from here, just along that road and up the hill. When you reach the top, it has the most amazing view."

"It sounds beautiful!"

He nodded. "It is. Would you like to see it?"

"Of course!" she cried excitedly. "Although… When Tomoyo-chan returns she'll wonder where I am."

"Don't worry, it won't take long. I'm sure we'll be back before she even finishes shopping."

"Well… okay then."

"Right then let's go."

"Hai!"

He took a deep breath. _It won't be long now.

* * *

_

"I hope Sakura-chan doesn't mind me buying this kind of bread." said Tomoyo to herself as she placed a few loafs of bread into the basket. "This is the cheapest in the shop but since we don't have that much money…"

"Really? You saw them?" Slowly her attention was diverted to a conversation going on near by.

"Yes. I got up earlier this morning to help my husband with the farm work seeing that Nobu is ill and there I saw them walking up the hill."

"Do you really think that they where soldiers from Li?"

"I'm positive! I could make out the swords they carrying and I don't know of any kingdom that has swords like that."

"Why do you think they're here, of all places?"

"Looking for the Kinomoto Princess, no doubt."

"You mean they still haven't found her?"

"Not from what I've heard."

"I hope they're not here long. I don't want them to cause any trouble."

"One of them looked pretty darn cute but I'm not even sure he was a soldier. I saw him coming down the hill and going into the Inn and-" The woman stopped abruptly and turned around to see a basket and some loafs of bread lying on the ground.

"Sakura-chan!" 

* * *

As Sakura hiked up the hill she grew aware of how distant Ryoji-san was being. It was like he had stopped talking right after she had agreed to come with him. If this spring was as wonderful as he described shouldn't he have been looking forward to seeing it. Another thing she noticed was how long it was taking to reach the top. _Tomoyo-chan will be back soon. I hope I'm not too long, I don't want to worry her._

"Ano… Ryoji-san, will we be much longer? Tomoyo-chan will be back soon." She asked nervously.

"I told you not to worry." he replied impassively.

"Ha-hai…"

Meanwhile Tomoyo was running with all the strength she could muster. She had to get to Sakura. She had to warn her. _Please be there. Please be there._

"We're here." stated Ryoji stopping. Excitedly Sakura ran to the other side of the hill, eager to see the lake… only to find that nothing was there… "Ryoji-san, what's going on there's-"

"No lake, I know."

The auburn haired girl stared in confusion. "Hoe? What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry I lied, but I needed to get you up here…Sa-ku-ra…."

"But why?" She stopped, her eyes widened. She wasn't Sakura, she-she was Satsuki! "Wh-what are-"

"I know who you are, Princess."

Suddenly several men jumped out from behind the trees. "Good job!" yelled the Captain. "She's definitely the girl from that picture, there's no mistaking it. Now all the royal family are dead."

Ryoji pulled out his sword and pointed it towards her. She gasped and took a step back.

"Ry-Ryoji-san, I-I don't understand…"

He gazed sadly at her puzzled and frightened face. "I truly am sorry but I have no other choice…"

"You-you're from the Li Kingdom… You-you're a soldier…"

He nodded.

No, this didn't make sense! This couldn't be happening! He had been so kind buying them meals and a room to stay the night. He hadn't even needed to acknowledge their existence, right? But he had. He had been so kind… But he was just like those who had invaded Kinomoto…

"Doushite?! I-I thought you liked us! I thought we were friends!"

"Believe me, it's nothing personal. I have orders and I cannot defy them, whether I agree with them or not." he replied remorsefully.

Tears ran down her cheeks. "I-I haven't done anything… My family… they never did anything…. We-we haven't done anything wrong at all!"

"That's it! I've heard enough! Kill her!" ordered the Captain.

The soldiers instantly ran towards her aiming their swords. She had never been so terrified. She was going to die. She was going to die yet she hadn't done anything wrong. She was going to die yet she hadn't found the guardian. She was going to die because she had failed. She was going to die and so where hundreds of other innocent people. She was going to die and her family all ready were.

_They didn't do anything wrong! They didn't do anything wrong! They didn't do anything wrong! They didn't do anything wrong! They didn't do anything wrong! They didn't anything wrong yet they're dead! _"I didn't do anything wrong and I don't want to DIE!!!!!!!!!"

Blasts of energy erupted from the young girl blasting her attackers back.

"Captain, what the hell's happening!?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"

The soldiers' bodies smashed back against the trees and boulders. The only person who was not harmed was Ryoji who stood staring in fear. What-what the hell was going on? How did a little kid like that have so much power?! The people of Kinomoto didn't practice magic! Was this why the Emperor wanted her dead?

Sakura staggered slightly, weary from all the power she had just used. Slowly she gazed upwards at the man who had brought her here. "Ry-Ryoji-san, I-I don't want to hurt you…"

He stood watching her fearfully. But he couldn't… "I cannot turn my back on my country! I have to carry out the orders given to me. I am no traitor." he said uneasily, holding his sword in front of him. What was he thinking? If she did that to his comrades including the Captain then she could easily do that to him. But still he had to be strong. He couldn't give up.

There was a rustling sound coming from the bushes beside him and the other girl Tomoyo appeared from them.

"Tomoyo-chan!"

"Sakura-chan you have to get out of here! They're trying to hurt you! You have to-" Two arms suddenly grabbed her.

"Tomoyo-chan!"

"Ryoji smiled as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. This was his chance. Frantically Sakura ran towards them.

"Stop!" he ordered mightily, holding his sword beneath the ivory haired girl's chin.

"Let Tomoyo-chan go! She hasn't got anything to do with this!" Sakura demanded furiously.

"Don't worry, no harm will come of her as long as you corroborate." he replied, more confident than before.

"Sakura-chan, don't worry about me! Please run away!" cried Tomoyo struggling.

"You could do what you're friend says and run, but of course that way she will die."

"Why the hell are you doing this?! I thought you were a kind person!" screamed Sakura desperately.

"Most people consider me a kind person too, but when it comes to my Country then no mercy shall be shown to the enemy."

Although weak Sakura knew she still had some power left yet. She outstretched her arm and pointed her palm towards him.

He gave a small chuckle. "You can attack me if you wish, although it would be unfortunate if your friend was hurt also."

Her eyes widened and she dropped her hand. He was right. And there was even more a chance of Tomoyo getting hurt since she was unable to control her powers very well. What if she blasted them and Tomoyo got seriously injured or worst…

"Sakura-chan run! Forget about me and just go!"

"No! I'm not leaving you here to die!"

"If you come over here without any hesitation and allow me to kill you then I will let Tomoyo-san go free, Princess."

"How do I know you won't just kill her after you're through with me?" she growled.

"Because my orders were to kill only you, no one else. I don't believe in innocent people getting killed if I can help it."

"But I have done anything wrong and neither had my family!"

He sighed. "You may well be innocent but in the eyes of my Country you're an enemy, an enemy that must be eliminated immediately."

"If you really don't believe in not hurting innocent people then why are you doing this to Tomoyo-chan?"

"As I said before, I can show no mercy when it comes to enemies, no matter what the consequences."

Sakura tightly shut her eyes feeling completely helpless. If she agreed then she would die and if she didn't then Tomoyo would. But she couldn't allow any harm to come upon Tomoyo. _Onii__-chan, what do I do? _

"Sakura-chan, please just go! Remember the future of Kinomoto is counting of you!" She opened her eyes. She was right. As the last heir to the throne it was her duty to protect her country and people but… Tomoyo was also a citizen of Kinomoto. Wasn't it her duty to protect her too?

"I'm afraid I cannot make such a deal with you, but I won't allow any harm to come to Tomoyo."

"Such a thing can not be."

Sakura clenched her fists together. _Damnit__, what do I do?!_

_"Sakura-hime…"_

Her eyes widened at the sound of a familiar voice. She quickly looked about herself but no one was there. "Misumara-san?"

_"You're powers go far beyond just shielding and attack. Deep down you will find a world of power that you could not even have imagined. You must dig deep and free that power and wield it for the powers of good. You must stop him."_

"I can't! If I do that then Tomoyo-chan might get hurt!"

_"That is why you must focus. Focus only on him."_

"Only on him?"

"She's talking to herself. Has the pressure gotten to her?" Ryoji thought to himself.

"All right, I'll try!" Gathering all her courage, she took a few steps forward.

He smiled. "So you're going to hand yourself over them?"

"No." she replied powerfully.

He snorted. "What? You're just going to allow your friend to die?"

"No."

Taking a deep breath she raised her hand, pointing it towards him.

"What are you doing? Kill me and you kill her!" he yelled becoming panicked.

Sakura continued to stare. Angrily he pulled the blade closer to Tomoyo's neck.

"Sakura-chan."

_Focus…_

She closed to her eyes.

_Focus…_

Her eyes shot open and the moment they did Ryoji felt a surging pain consume his body. He screamed, accidentally tossing Tomoyo away due to the immense pain. Sakura collapsed to the ground. Quickly Tomoyo rushed to her aid, Ryoji still screaming and clasping at his head in pain.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Daijoubu ka!?"

"I'm all right." She replied weakly as Tomoyo helped her up. "Are you hurt?"

"No I'm fine. But what about you, are you sure you're all right?" Tomoyo asked worriedly.

Sakura ignored her question and slowly walked towards Ryoji who had only just stopped screaming. He lay on the ground looking as if his body had been tossed there. As she stood over him she could see that he was conscious.

Slowly he opened his eyes and looked up. "Sakura-hime." He gave a small cough. "Are you going to kill me?"

"No."

"But why? You defeated me, therefore I should die. I failed my country and my father… Now I should die…"

"No."

"I-I don't understand. After all I did to you, after I threatened to kill you and your friend, after my country killed you family, you should want to kill me."

"I don't believe that people have the right to take the life of another just like you don't believe that innocent people should die. But unlike you I will stick to my beliefs." she replied coldly.

"If you're not going to kill me, then may I ask you a question?" he asked weakly.

No reply came but he decided to continue anyway. "You-you wanted to know if there was away you could repay me… Well there is something you could do…"

"And what is that?"

"Please. Please forgive me."

Sakura turned her head unable to look at him. "I am grateful for you helping us, but… I am afraid I am unable to forgive you…" With that she walked away, leaving Ryoji and his men lying there in defeat,

"Sa-Sakura-chan…"

"Since we have the bags we should leave. We can get some bread later."

Tomoyo nodded. It was best if they got out of there as quickly as they good. "Per-perhaps we should stop somewhere for you to rest. I mean-"

"I don't think I could rest even if I tried." she replied dejectedly. Picking up her back she started to walk down the hill. "Let's go…"

**Authors Notes: **Yay, it didn't take me ages to update this time! I hope that chapter is all right. I wanted to give Ryoji's character a bit of depth to make things more interesting. Generally he is a nice guy, also a bit of a ladies man but because his father was a honourable soldier and well-respected, he has been brought up to place his loyalties to his Country and Emperor above everything else. Although he loved his Father he's a bit resentful towards him, mainly because he wasn't around much. Anyway, yeah I'm rambling. Gomen ;;

Thank you lots to heheangel kisses, Lomiel, kawaiitenshisakura, SaKuRaStArS, Rosie and sweetlove73 for reviewing. Any feedback or advice on how I could improve is greatly appreciated. Thankies for reading.

Also next chapter Sakura and Syaoran finally meet.


	7. The Mysterious Boy

**Authors Notes: **I apologise to anyone who had been reading for not updating in such a long time. I've been going through a very bad period in my life so I had to give up writing amongst other things. Not that I'm a very good writer anyway, but I hope you enjoy this chapter. Sakura and Syaoran meet at last.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. It is owned by the lovely ladies of CLAMP.

Chapter 7: The Mysterious Boy

Her eyes were fixated on the ground as she walked down the pathway. Three days had passed since the incident with Ryoji and how he had betrayed her and Tomoyo. Ryoji had been both kind and generous and she had liked him a lot. But he deceived them and in the end he had turned out to be an enemy, associated with the same people that had murdered her family. Every time she pictured her family's murder she imagined him standing there smiling softly. And every time she thought about it she wanted to be sick.

Tomoyo gazed sadly at her princess. She couldn't bare to see Sakura like this, but at the same time she could understand her sorrow. It also hurt her knowing that there was nothing she could possibly say or do to make things better. She felt so useless.

"Is that her!"

Her eyes widened and instantly the ivory haired girl turned around to discover that a group of Li soldiers were running towards them.

"Sakura-chan!" Only after hearing Tomoyo's voice did she realise what was happening. She gazed around, breathing heavily with her heart racing. _No, not again!_

"Sakura-chan, hurry!" screamed Tomoyo grabbing hold of her hand. Pulling her along they started to run but the soldiers easily caught up with and surrounded them.

"We've got you. There ain't no escaping now!"

"Be careful! She has magic!" shouted one the soldiers. "Look what she did to Captain Aoba's division!"

Tears ran down her cheeks. "I… I don't want to fight…" she whispered fearfully.

"Look she's crying for Christ sake! And you're telling me she's dangerous? You gotta be kidding me!"

"Please, I don't want to hurt anyone! I-I don't want to use my magic. I… I…I just want things back to normal! I want to go home were Father and Mother are always busy, have Onii-chan pick on me, and have Yukito smiling kindly at me!"

"That's it!" yelled one the men stepping forward.

"Captain!"  
"Now you die!" He raised his sword and slashed it swiftly, ready to cut the princess's head off.

"Sakura-chan!"

The auburn haired girl screamed and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. But after a couple of seconds she realised that the blow never came. She opened her eyes and gasped. In front of her stood a young man wearing a cloak holding a sword steadily above his head stopping the soldier's attack against her. The soldier pulled his sword away and took a step back.

"Who the hell are you! And what the hell do you think you are doing?"

"You dare to interfere in the biddings of the Emperor of the Li dynasty!" The boy smiled at the irony of the statement.

"Don't just stand there, get him!" All the men rushed towards him seemingly too enraged with the boy to really care about the killing of the Princess. They swiftly drew their swords but the mysterious boy easily dodged all attacks.

"You little punk!"

Realising that attacking the boy individually was no good, they surrounded him. "You'll regret your actions, kid."

He smirked. "Will I, now?" It had been a long time since he had challenged any of the soldiers, the only difference this time was that they had no idea who he really was. It was amused him how differently they acted when it was a strange kid they were fighting and not the future Emperor of Li.

"Well I suppose it's time to end this." Syaoran sighed as he grasped his sword. A few seconds later all of the soldiers were knocked unconscious.

"Sakura-chan we have to get out of here!" cried Tomoyo tugging on her friend's sleeve. Sakura agreed with Tomoyo completely but for some reason she found herself unable to move.

The way that boy had defeated them so effortlessly… it was just so unreal…

"Well that certainly was boring." Suddenly his sword disappeared seemingly fading into thin air.

Sakura blinked in confusion as the boy turned around to face her.

"Don't tell me you couldn't have handled those soldiers on you own?" he asked in a somewhat mocking tone.

Sakura opened her mouth to argue but soon stopped realising her position. "You mean fight those soldiers? What are you talking about? I'm just a poor wandering girl. Of course my friend and I couldn't have defended ourselves!"

"I know who you are, and if you can't defeat those guys then your little Kingdom doesn't stand a chance."

Sakura's eyes widened. Taking a step back she raised her hand and stretched out her arm in attacking position. "What do you want? Who are you?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you doing? I just saved you life and this is the thanks I receive?"

Sakura frowned and lowered her arm slightly. "Gomen, I just-"

"I swear some Princesses are nothing but spoiled little brats…" he mumbled in an annoyance.

Tomoyo frowned. "How do you know that she is a princess?"

"Are you with those soldiers?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Are you really that thick? If I was with those soldiers then why the hell would I have saved you?"

Still Sakura held her guard.

He gave a faint chuckle. "What, you're going to kill me for saving your life? If you can't even defeat a small bunch of guys like that then how in the hell do you expect to even hurt me?"

"Who are you?" she asked warily.

"Tenjou Syaoran." he replied, obviously aware not to use his family name.

"Why did you save us and how do you know who I am? Did you hear the rumours about the escaped Kinomoto Princess and generously decided to save her life?"

"No I knew about you years ago."

Both girls blinked in confusion. "Years ago?"

"I know of the power the Kinomoto clan possess and of how only those with Kinomoto blood can open the chamber of Clow."

Sakura stared, shocked. "How-how did you know that? Are you from Li!"

"If I was from Li then I would have just done the exact opposite of what I just did. No, I come from a family who for hundreds of years have practiced magic. My ancestors were good friends with your ancestors and so the legend of the Clow chamber was known to them. Thus the story has been passed on from generation to generation just in case a situation such as this one arose; were someone other than the Kinomoto clan would attempt to open the chamber…"

"But isn't it only Sakura-chan who can open it?" asked Tomoyo still grasping on to the other girl.

"Yes, but the Li clan must think that the only way to open it is through the destruction of the Kinomoto family."

"But why would they think that?"

"Well throughout the magic community there have been many stories about how the Clow chamber can supposedly be opened. I imagine that the Kinomoto clan and those close to them would have kept the secret of how to open it heavily guarded. The Li clan must have mistakenly heard one of the rumours and believed that it was the true way they could open the chamber."

Tightly Sakura clenched her fists together, realisation sinking in. "So what you're saying is that my family died for no reason at all? That they died all because of some lie? Why couldn't the stupid Li clan have believed one of the other rumours! My family died for nothing!" She fell to her knees, and clutched on to them as if by holding tightly on to something the pain would go away. "They didn't deserve to die…"

The boy shrugged. "They probably would have died anyway. I mean if the Emperor of Li had found another way to supposedly open the chamber then he would have no doubt killed them eventually."

Sakura looked up at him shocked.

"How can you say such a thing!" shouted Tomoyo angrily. "Dear Sakura-chan's family just died and you are making it sound like it's nothing at all! If your family were so close with the Kinomoto clan then surely you should be showing some remorse over their deaths!"

He sighed and turned to Sakura. "Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. What I was trying to say is that bad things happen all the time, things that are fated; inevitable."

"So God willed it so that my family's fate would be to die for nothing." stated Sakura with no hidden remorse.

Slowly she picked herself up and turned to look at the road ahead. "I promised myself that I would avenge their deaths and that is just what I am going to do."

She turned to the other girl. "Tomoyo-chan, I think we should leave now."

Tomoyo nodded. "Hai."

With that both girls picked up their rucksacks and started to walk away.

"Hey! Where are you going! I just saved your lives!"

"I know, and I thank you for doing so." replied the young princess with a bow. "But now we must go."

"I shall come too."

Sakura gave him a confused look. "Why?"

"To protect you of course, there are a lot more dangerous things in the world than those incompetent soldiers that attacked you, and if you can't even handle them then you definitely won't last very long out there."

"That is very kind of you but I'm not sure I can trust you."

"What! After all that I explained to you, you still won't believe that I'm not trying to kill you! Well it's good that you're not naïve, but…" He stopped and blinked, suddenly taking into account of the other girl with the Princess. "Uh, who is she?" he asked pointing.

"Daidoji Tomoyo." said the ivory haired girl with a small bow.

"You won't trust me, but you will trust her? How do you know that she isn't the enemy?"

"Because Tomoyo-chan has been with me before and after I left Kinomoto. Tomoyo-chan's been with me the whole time, she took care of me when I was hurt and stayed by my side when I was in danger. I trust her with my life."

The other girl blushed. "Sakura-chan…"

_"This is going to be more difficult than I anticipated."_ thought Syaoran. _"Perhaps, Eriol-sama was right. Nonetheless I will carry out my duty as planned. It is the only way I can prove myself worthy to the Emperor and my Mother."_

"Well if you won't allow me to accompany you then I guess I'll just have to follow you instead."

"What?"

"I can't risk the little Princess getting hurt now can I?" he replied with a smirk.

"You can't follow us!" shouted Sakura becoming irritated.

"Oh and just how are you planning on stopping me?"

"Well..." Damn. He was right. There nothing she could do to stop him.

"Look I'm only doing what my clan ordered me to. I cannot defy their wishes."

Her eyes widened slightly upon hearing this_. "That was exactly what Ryoji had said… But when he had said it, he was going against us... But this boy, he wants to help… Can I really trust him?"_

"Well?"

Sakura turned to Tomoyo. "Let's go."

"Hai."

With that the two girls quickly walked away leaving the boy standing there puzzled.

"Why do women have to be so difficult?" he asked, sighing.

* * *

As Sakura and Tomoyo walked on, they found themselves within a small woodland area.

"It's quite pretty isn't it?" spoke Tomoyo. But Sakura however wasn't paying attention; too busy wondering if that mysterious boy was following them. If he was, then he was very good at concealing his presence. It actually made her feel slightly uneasy.

She looked about anxiously as they got deeper into the trees. "It-it's really quiet… Don't you um think it's a bit unnerving?"

"I'm sure if we run into any trouble then Tenjou-san will help us." Tomoyo replied with a small wink.

"Why, can you hear him following us?" she asked curiously.

"No, but from the determined look on his face I imagine that he is."

Sakura snorted. "I don't need his help. We don't even-" Suddenly she stopped, opening her mouth wide and letting out a deafening scream.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong!"

Immediately out of nowhere Syaoran appeared. Raising his sword he quickly brought it down piercing it sharply into the ground.

Sakura was cuddling into Tomoyo, terrified and shaking.

"Hey, it's okay. I got it."

Tomoyo blinked in confusion, having no idea what was going on. "Got what?"

Syaoran held up his sword. Attached to the bottom was a dead snake's corpse. "See?"

"Ha-hai..."

"I'll go get rid of it." He said before wandering into the bushes.

Tomoyo stared down at Sakura who was practically crushing her. "Now, now, don't worry. Tenjou-san killed the snake."

Sakura let go. "Tenjou-san?"

"Hai, the moment you started to scream he leapt out from the trees and pierced it with his sword."

"You sure scare easily." said Syaoran returning snake-free. "When you screamed I thought it was something serious, like you were being attacked."

"But snakes are scary!" declared Sakura shuddering. "I get frightened just thinking about them."

The chestnut haired boy sighed. "You could have easily gotten rid of it with your magic, you know."

The girl sweatdropped. "Oh I never actually thought of that..."

"And here the fate of an entire kingdom lies with in this girl's hands. The people of Kinomoto definitely don't have anything to worry about."

Sakura frowned. "I'm trying the best I can."

"What level would you say your magical abilities rate?"

"What rate? Um, well I'm not really sure…"

"Well then what can you do?"

"I uh can fire small attacks at people… and uh… oh and a shield seems to form around me when I'm in danger! It throws people back when ever they try to get near me."

"And?"

She blinked. "And what?"

He sighed yet again. "Your other abilities?"

"Oh, um that's really all I can do…"

The boy stared in disbelief. "The-the person who is able to open the Clow chamber only knows two simple spells!"

"Hey, I only actually learned how to use magic no more than a week ago!"

"What in the world was Clow-sama thinking when he made it so the Clow chamber could only be opened by a direct member of the Kinomoto clan bloodline? I mean they don't even practice magic anymore, yet the power to open it was given to them!" he muttered ignoring the girl's presence.

Noticing the sad look on her friend's face, Tomoyo spoke up. "I think that Sakura-chan's powers are really amazing! On her first time using magic it appeared that she knew exactly what she was doing!" she said admiringly.

"Let me guess, the first time you used your powers you were about to be attacked, right?" asked Syaoran turning back to Sakura.

She nodded. "Hai."

"And you were angry?"

Again she nodded.

"Anyone with magical abilities can easily use magic when they're under a large amount of stress. The real ability lies in controlling your powers."

"Controlling my powers?"

"When faced with a strong opponent you would use a larger portion of your powers, whilst with a weaker enemy you could get away with using a lesser percentage of your power."

"Um I think I use the same amount with each person…"

Syaoran stared furiously at her. How the hell could such power be left in the hands of such an incompetent family? The Li clan was far superior in every single way!

Sakura gazed back fearfully. He looked so angry that it was actually making her feel very intimidated. And this was the guy who was supposed to be protecting her from danger!

"Anou Syaoran-san…"

"Baka! You really are useless! How can such a power belong to such a hopeless and futile person? I wouldn't be surprised if the chamber couldn't even be opened because of your obvious lack of power!"

Sakura was now just as angry as he was. "If you think I'm so useless and unworthy then why don't you go search for the guardians and open the chamber yourself?"

"I would if I could but for some uncanny reason only those of Kinomoto blood can open it, something which I obviously don't have. So the only way for me to insure the safety of Kinomoto is to accompany you and protect you from harm."

Sakura sighed. "So that means you'll follow and protect me until I find the guardians and open the chamber?" He nodded.

"Well if you are going to be Sakura-chan's protector then I think you should show a bit more courtesy and respect for her. She is a princess after all." added Tomoyo.

"Yeah, stop being so mean!" Sakura had never demanded respect off anyone just because she was a Princess, but this guy was seriously beginning to annoy her.

"You're one to talk about being rude _Princess_! I save you life and instead of receiving a kind thank you, all I get are idiotic suspicions that I'm trying to kill you!"

Tomoyo sighed in the background as the pair continued to argue. "My, my, we certainly did get off on the wrong foot…"

* * *

A few hours passed and deciding that it was stupid to have Syaoran hiding from them when they knew fine well that he was following them, they allowed him to walk with them. Tomoyo had been worried that they would continue to argue, but in actual fact they hardly said anything at all. She had a feeling that Syaoran was naturally always quiet but Sakura on the other hand she was worried about. Perhaps Syaoran's words had hurt her.

_Sakura-chan doesn't need to go through anymore pain that she has all ready been through…_

"It's getting dark, I think we better settle here for the night." announced Syaoran.

"All right then." agreed Sakura.

"I will go get the food out of our rucksacks." offered Tomoyo kindly.

"I guess I'll go collect some wood for a fire in case it becomes chilly." said Sakura, standing up.

"No need." replied Syaoran as held out his hand.

Staring at it, Sakura was startled when small ball of fire shot from it. Placing his hand on the ground the small flames grew to the size of a normal campfire.

"Su-sugoi!" cried Sakura in disbelief. "But didn't the flames hurt your hand?" she said, looking to see if there were any burn marks on it.

"No. I control it. It's a useful spell and quite easy to do."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I think even an inexperienced amateur like you could learn to do it."

"Hey!" She stopped and sighed. "Yeah I guess it would be really great if I were able to do something like that."

"I'll teach you sometime." replied Syaoran, yawning.

Sakura's eyed widened a little, surprised that he would offer to show her. It was the first time he had been sort of nice to her since they had met. She smiled. "Arigato."

_Maybe he isn't so bad after all._

"So are any of the guardians you sense close by?" he asked curiously.

"Sense? Umm…Well actually I haven't been able to sense anything at all!" she replied in light hearted voice trying to conceal her worry.

Syaoran stared. Then: "WHAT?"

"I-I…"

"You're saying you have no idea where the hell they are? That for all you know they could be in the completely opposite direction from us?"

"Ha-hai…"

Syaoran collapsed to the ground.

"Gomen! Gomen! I promise that I'll try harder!"

Tomoyo returned with some food and with Sakura panicking and her protector lying awkwardly on the ground she couldn't help but sigh once again. "My, my…"

Syaoran too, sighed, a sweatdrop handing from his head. "God this is pathetic…"

* * *

Eriol gave a small laugh as he watched his young student through a portal.

"This is definitely better than any book!" exclaimed Nakura, standing behind her master, shoving crackers into her mouth.

"I agree. It looks like our little wolf is going to have much more difficult time than he first anticipated." he replied, smirking in amusement.

**Authors Notes: **I hope that was alright and not too bad. The next chapter should be out fairly soon. Reviews and any advice on how I could improve my writing are greatly appreciated. Arigato for reading.


	8. Hidden power

**Authors Notes: **Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Also some of my spelling mistakes might not actually be mistakes as I'm British and therefore use the Queen's English as opposed to the type of spelling America adapted for itself. I use Microsoft word so I'm assuming that the majority is spelt correct. Although, knowing me I probably still end up making mistakes. Just hope my grammar isn't too bad. x-x;;

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. It is owned by the lovely ladies of CLAMP.

_Chapter 8: Hidden power_

"Tenjou-san, can't we take a break? We've been walking for hours!" complained Sakura, walking behind the brown haired boy, Tomoyo by her side.

"No we need to keep moving."

She sighed. God, there was no reasoning with him.

"Ano… Where are we going anyway?"

"I don't know."

"Huh? If that's the case then why are you in so much of a hurry?"

"Well I would know where we were going if a certain person would hurry up and sense where the guardians are residing so we would know what direction to go." he retorted.

"Hey! I'm trying the best I can!"

"Obviously your best isn't good enough then." he muttered under his breath.

"Why don't we just sit down for a little while and wait until I can finally sense the guardians. That way I can try and figure out where they are and we can rest at the same time." she suggested hopefully.

Syaoran sighed. "It doesn't work that way. With your lack of experience with magic you must have to be quite near to be able to sense their presence. Therefore we have no choice but to continue on."

"My, my, Tenjou-san certainly is determined to help you find the guardians whereabouts isn't he?" said Tomoyo with the usual smile on her face.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah but five minutes rest wouldn't kill him."

"You can rest for awhile when arrive in the next village we come across."

Her emerald eyes widened. "You mean that we'll actually be going into it?"

"Considering we have no food left, yes."

She glanced at him nervously, biting down on her bottom lip. "Um are you sure that's such a good idea? I mean maybe we should just leave it till later and continue on travelling."

"The next village after the one we're approaching is almost a day away. We need food and water to keep up our strength."

"I-I guess…"

Suddenly an idea struck her causing her to perk up and run towards a near by bush.

"Sakura-chan, what's wrong?" asked Tomoyo, slightly worried.

"Look." she said holding out her hand. "Berries, see? We don't need to go out of our way to get food from a village, we have food right here!" she cried and with that put one of them in her mouth.

"Those berries are poisonous, you know." stated Syaoran.

Eyes wide opened she instantly spat it out and continued spitting for minutes after.

Syaoran stared at her in confusion. "I don't understand. A minute ago you were dying to rest, now you go on about not wanting to waste time."

She sighed. "Yeah, but things are different now…"

"I really don't understand women." he mumbled, scratching the back of his head.

"Sakura-chan I realise how you feel but we do need food and water so I think it's best if we tried to put what happened behind us." she whispered softly, gently placing her hand on her friends shoulder.

Slowly Sakura nodded. "Yes. I suppose you're right."

"Okay. Let's go then." she said taking Tomoyo's hand.

Syaoran watched as they walked away, still baffled. _Kinomoto women are even stranger than most of my sisters. That's a rather disturbing revelation…_

* * *

Sakura still couldn't help but feel uneasy as she walked through the town. Being there reminded her far too much of the incident with Ryoji-san. Even her supposed protector Syaoran had deserted them to go off and have something to eat at one of the Inn's.

The two girls sat by themselves on a bench, Sakura letting out yet another sigh.

"Tenjou-san said that he wouldn't be too long. It seems that he has brought a lot of money with him so hopefully we will no longer have to worry about our food budget." said the ivory haired girl happily.

"Yeah well if he has so much money then he should have at least had the courtesy to offer us something to eat too. It-it's what Ryoji-san would have done…"

The other girl frowned. "Sakura-chan…"

Quickly Sakura shook her head. "Wait I shouldn't be thinking about such things." she replied in a brighter tone. "I guess Tenjou-san just wanted to be alone. I daresay I'm grating on his nerves."

Tomoyo nodded giving the other girl a small sympathetic smile. "Yes, it seems that Tenjou -san is the quiet type"

"Well, I suppose I should head to the market now. Sakura-chan you should stay here and get some rest."

"Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"Don't worry, I'll manage." With that she bid goodbye and quickly hurried off. She was weary about leaving her, but Sakura definitely needed to rest. The stress of remembering what happened would only cause her to grow more tired. Hopefully Tenjou-san wouldn't take long and they would be able to get away from here as soon as possible.

* * *

The chestnut haired boy let out a sigh as he placed down his knife and fork. Their search was going no where and the whole ordeal was nothing like what he had envisioned it to be before leaving Li. How was he supposed to take control of the Clow portal if he had no idea whatsoever to the whereabouts the guardians?

Damnit! This was all that girl's fault! He had known that the people of Kinomoto were no longer associated with magic but he had at least thought the royal family would still keep a connection to it. That girl was so inexperienced that it was no wonder she couldn't sense where the guardians where.

_Chikusho__… I promised myself, my Mother and the Emperor that I could do this; that I would succeed. Eriol-sama could it be that I have failed all ready?_

* * *

As the auburn haired girl sat on the bench waiting for Tomoyo and Syaoran to return, she tried everything to take her mind off those awful memories. But her memories of the past were not the problem. It was the present. She knew Tenjou-san was mad at her for being unable to sense where the guardians resided. But…what if she was never able to sense them? What if she lacked the ability do such a thing? She didn't even like using her magic! Sure it had helped save her and Tomoyo when they where in trouble but in the end someone only ended up getting hurt.

She clasped her shaking hands on to her head, tugging at her hair. _Onii__-chan…Yukito-san… I can't do this…_

* * *

"It looks like Princess is having doubts about her magical abilities." stated Spinal sun as he watched her through his Masters portal.

"Yes and even Syaoran-kun is beginning to worry about his ability to handle his mission." added Eriol. "I suppose I'll just have to do something to help boost their confidence. Sakura has the ability. She and Syaoran-kun just have to see it."

"What? You mean you are going to interfere already?" asked the floating cat-like creature in surprise.

"Just a little." the young-looking navy haired man replied with a small wink.

* * *

Suddenly Sakura was awakened from her sorrows as he heard aloud scream. Her head quickly shot up to see a woman crying out, yelling for someone.

"Taro-kun! Taro-kun!"

Her eyes widened as she watched a large unmanned cart rolling down the hill. The scream had come from a little boy who just happened to be in its way. Without a second thought she shot up knowing she had to do something. She couldn't just sit there and watch that little boy get badly hurt or worse; killed.

Sakura yelled at the boy to get out of the way, running towards him with all her strength. But the boy was in shock, unable to hear a single word she said. Not even his mother's terrified screams seemed to reach him.

She yanked the boy's hand but it was too late, there was no way they could escape before the cart hit them!

"Nooo!" she screamed, wrapping he arms around him.

Syaoran who had just arrived at that moment watched in shock. The cart was inches away and it was too late for him to intervene and stop it. He quickly closed his eyes, not wanting to see Sakura and the boy's mangled forms being tossed into the air.

Was she dead? Her heart was racing but she forced herself to open her eyes. She gazed at the pathway. Eh? The cart was gone!

Suddenly she was brought back to her senses; the boy in her arms struggling desperately to get free and crying for his mother.

The public stared at her in shock, bewildered at what they had just witnessed.

"What in the hell just happened!"

"The-the cart it-it flew straight into the air!"

"Are they alright?"

"It was like it hit an invisible wall or something!"

But before she got the chance to answer any of the questions as a crowd started running towards her, she was quickly dragged away by Syaoran.

"Ten-Tenjou-san!"

"Shut up, we have to get the hell out of here!" he said, pulling her so fast that she could barely keep up with his stepping.

"But Tomoyo-chan!"

"There she is!" yelled Syaoran, pointing ahead.

The ivory haired girl waved. "Huh? Sakura-chan what's wrong?"

"No time to explain, let's go!" cried the auburn haired girl grabbing her friends hand.

"A-Ha-Hai!"

* * *

"What in the world were you thinking!" cried Spinel Sun in disbelief. "You almost killed her and that boy!"

"Oh, settle down Suppi, you know that Eriol-sama wouldn't have actually let the cart hit them." replied Nakura in a know-it-all tone. "Um, but Eriol-sama, why did you do that?"

"Baka!" yelled the cat-like creature. "He did it to show Sakura that magic can be used to help people rather than being used to hurt them!"

"Nyah, I knew that, Suppi-chan."

"I said stop calling me that!"

She gave an evil smirk and started to dance around him. "Suppi-chan! Suppi-chan! Suppi-chan!"

"Stop it!"

The navy haired man closed his eyes, deep in thought. _Sakura-him… I hope this will help you to discover._

* * *

"So that cart was going to hit the little boy and you rushed to save him?" asked Tomoyo, desperate to know what had happened.

"Hai..."

"Ah, Sakura-chan, you're so brave!" she screamed, throwing her arms around Sakura.

Sakura sweatdropped. "To-Tomoyo-chan."

As the two girls continued on talking, Syaoran stared at Sakura from the background. _That cart…It must have bee very heavy yet she stopped it with such ease. It was even tossed back into the air. How can someone at such an inexperienced level do that? She doesn't even appear to be that worn oudt. Eriol-sama, you said that she has a great deal of hidden power. Perhaps if she was just a little more experienced… _

He gave a small chuckle. "Who knows, maybe it is possible after all."

"Tenjou-san! Please! Please tell me what happened!" cried the violet eyed girl grabbing holding of his hands.

"Wha-What?"

"Tell me what happened with Sakura-chan! You saw it when the cart was just about to hit her and the little boy didn't you?"

"Well uh-"

"Oh I can't believe I missed it! Sakura-chan… she is so brave… Now please tell me everything that you saw! The tension and panic of the crowd, the daring heroic look on her face as she raced to save that little boy. Tell me everything! I must record Sakura-chan's bravery in my notes!" she declared, holding her notepad up high.

Sakura sighed as she watched Tomoyo hound Syaoran for information. She actually felt sort of sorry for him.

"For such tense and serious times, her fascination with my magic never seems to waver." She gave a small giggle. "Oh well, at least I'm not the only one she's persecuting this time."

**Authors Notes: **I apologise for the shortness and general suckiness of this chapter. I just couldn't seem to make it any good. Next chapter will be (or hopefully anyway) more interesting.

Reviews and any advice on how I could improve would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	9. Friction

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura. It is owned by the lovely ladies of CLAMP.

_Chapter 9: Friction _

The brown haired man stared up curiously at the brightly lit night time sky. It had now been over two weeks since he had left the country of Li and he had finally managed to locate Kinomoto's last living heir to the throne and trick her into letting him being her protector. Another girl by the name of Daidouji Tomoyo, a civilian from Kinotomo also accompanied them. However knowing that she didn't possess any magical abilities he knew she wouldn't be much of a problem.

He had imagined the mission would be fairly easily and hoped to complete it quickly to appease the Emperor, but things weren't exactly going the way he had anticipated. Not only was the Kinomoto Princess unable to sense the Guardians whereabouts, she was also horribly inexperienced in using magic.

The situation seemed hopeless as they travelled about aimlessly. However, his opinion of her had improved slightly since he saw her great display of power trying to save that child. What he didn't understand was how she had been able to use such a power, especially when she had only learned of her powers two weeks before hand. It just didn't make any sense. The Kinomoto clan had ceased in the practice of magic over a hundred years ago, therefore their future offspring's abilities should have been severely weakened.

At one point he had asked her if she had any suspicions of her powers before the Li kingdom had attacked but as usual she was clueless. This irritated Syaoran greatly. Where had the source of her magic come from and how had it become so powerful?

He desperately wished to contact his Mentor, Eriol and get his opinion of it, but he also didn't want it to appear that he couldn't handle this. He couldn't run to him with every single little problem.

He let out a soft sigh as he lay back down, still staring upwards. It was up to him to find the answers to that question.

He turned over and his eyes moved to and focused on where she was currently laying a sleep. He couldn't help but notice the distress on her face. She must have been having a nightmare. Maybe he should wake her up…

No.

Suddenly he turned away and snorted. Stupid wench. If she couldn't even handle a bad dream, how was she supposedly going to save her Kingdom?

* * *

Sakura placed her hand over her mouth as she yawned. "So tired…" Much to her dismay Syaoran had woke her up at the very crack of dawn. The boy was so bossy that it annoyed her. His job was to protect and aid her with her quest to not tell her what to do every second. She sighed, suddenly feeling selfish. She knew that Syaoran was only trying to help and if he hadn't jumped in that time they were being attacked by Li soldiers, she and Tomoyo would no doubt have been in big trouble.

"Sakura-chan, breakfast is ready!" cried a cheery voice. Sakura looked up and couldn't help but smile when she saw her friend's face. Tomoyo was quite optimistic and always tried to cheer her up when she was down. She knew she wouldn't have gotten far without the girl and was thankful to have such a wonderful friend.

Sakura's face lit up when she caught the sight of their breakfast. Usually they only ate bread as that was all they could afford but Syaoran seemed to have a lot of money with him and had bought eggs and sausages amongst other things yesterday. When they had graciously thanked him, he shrugged them off claiming that they only reason he had bought them was because eating only bread would not help to keep up their strength.

"Ah, it looks great!" said Sakura with delight as she eagerly took the plate Tomoyo handed to her.

The other girl smiled. "I hope I cooked it alright."

Sakura quickly shook her head. "Don't worry, I don't even know how to cook." She admitted embarrassingly. Like most things, cooking wasn't required of a Princess.

Just as she was about to take a bite of her delicious meal, Tomoyo asked her to go get Syaoran for breakfast. Her face faltered slightly, but did what her friend asked of her. Quickly she rushed away to find him, not wanting her meal to get to cold.

_"Nyah, nyah, where is he!" _

She eventually found him crouched down on the grass and was about to yell out to him when suddenly something caught her eye. Underneath him was a withered flower, one of his hands placed at each side of it. Syaoran had his eyes closed and appeared to be deep in concentration. Not wanting to disturb him (and also curious of what he was actually doing) she remained silent.

After a few moments her eyes widened in amazement as the stem started lifting itself up. The darkness surrounding it faded and the flower petals opened and blossomed.

"Sugoi!" she yelled, breaking the silence and startling Syaoran in the process. "Tenjou-san, that was amazing! You brought it back to life!"

"It's impossible to bring something that is dead back to life. It was just sick and dying so I revived it before the brink of death."

"Still, that's incredible." she replied, a happy smile on her face.

"It's not difficult. Not with something as small as this flower any way. Even you could probably learn how to do it." he stated with a shrug.

"Really! Tenjou-san, please teach me how!" she pleaded grabbing hold of his arm.

Syaoran winced at the sudden contact, not used to being touched like this. Small pink tints appeared on his cheeks, but quickly regaining his senses he pulled away from her.

"Hey don't you think you should be worrying about developing your other magical abilities that can actually help you find the Guardians rather than concerning yourself with an idiotic notion of learning magic to save dying plants!"

Sakura frowned sadly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Um, breakfast is ready." She said before quickly running back to Tomoyo.

The boy scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Baka…"

"Here you go." said Tomoyo as she offered the plate to Syaoran.

"You made some for me?" asked the brown haired boy, confused.

The girl smiled. "Of course. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing… You um just didn't need to bother." He replied awkwardly.

"Well since you are travelling with us and have claimed to protect Sakura-chan, it's only right to make you something to eat. Also you can consider this a thank you for saving us that time."

While the girl was smiling happily, Syaoran was just plain embarrassed. He mumbled something which the two girls couldn't quite make out.

Sakura gave a small chuckle. Tomoyo was right he really wasn't used to being socially around people. Her mind wandered back to him saving the flower. She had hadn't expected him to be interested in something like flowers and saving them. Then again, maybe he was just bored and it was something to pass the time. But if that was it, why would he waste his time on something like that? Again she smiled. Maybe Syaoran was a much more caring person than she thought.

"Why are you staring idiotically into space! Hurry up and finish your food!" The boy ordered. She sighed. Okay, so he was still really bossy.

"Hai, hai, I'm coming. I'll finish this and we can leave."

"We're not going anywhere." He stated firmly.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I'm going to give you some training."

"Training?"

"If you want to save your kingdom, you'll definitely need to be a lot stronger than you currently are. I'm sick of walking around, having no idea what direction to go in. The more your magic improves, the sooner you find the guardians and the sooner you can save your kingdom. Plus I can finally be free of you."

"Fine!" She grumbled. She was actually quite happy to receive training, she just didn't like the way he had put it. Rolling her eyes, she wondered if she should take back the whole Syaoran caring thought.

* * *

Tomoyo was quite eager to witness Sakura's training but was also nervous at the same time. Syaoran appeared to be very strong and knowledgeable on the subject of magic, but she was worried that the training might be too tough for her innocent Sakura-chan. It wasn't that she thought her friend incapable; she just didn't want her to get hurt.

"Sakura-chan, please be careful!"

The auburn haired girl nodded and smiled.

She turned back around to face her trainer. She'd show him. She could do this. "_Onii-chan__… I promise that I will become stronger for the sake of our Kingdom and people." _She told herself determinedly.

"Are you ready?" questioned the young man.

She nodded silently. Although she was determined, she couldn't shake her anxiety. She just hoped Syaoran wouldn't shout at her too badly if she messed up.

"Alright, I want you to attack me with all the strength you can spare."

"A-Attack you?" she asked in shock.

"Yes." He replied simply.

She shifted uncomfortably. "Ano…But what if hurt you?"

"Trust me, you won't."

She frowned and stood there hesitantly. "Come on, hurry up!" She winced at the sound of the boy's harsh voice. Biting her lip she raised and outstretched her right arm and hand while focusing her energy on Syaoran.

Syaoran braced himself for the attack, very curious to see much she could do, but after a half a minute nothing came.

"Hey, what are you doing! Attack already!" He commanded, unable to see what the problem was.

Her eyes were focused on the ground. "I…I can't."

"What do you mean you can't attack?"

"Because I can't attack you!"

"I told you already that it won't hurt me!"

"That's not the point!" cried the boy growing frustrated.

Realising she had snapped, she mumbled and apology and took a deep breath. "It…it's just that you saved Tomoyo-chan's and my life, and you're helping me. I couldn't possibly attack you."

Suddenly an image of Ryoji appeared in her mind.

"Don't be foolish! How do you expect to train otherwise!"

"I can't attack you Tenjou-san!"

He gritted his teeth, growing more impatient by the second. Realising that she wasn't going to attack, he said "Fine then, if you won't attack then I will!" a smug smile on his face, "Let's test your defensive abilities!"

Before Sakura even had the chance to grasp what was going on, an attack was fired straight at her. She gave a small scream as she was tossed back.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Unbelievable! How is it possible that someone who displayed such defensive abilities before cannot stand such a feeble attack!"

"You never even gave me a chance to prepare!" she spat back angrily.

"And to you think that your enemies will give you the chance to defend yourself before they attack you!"

"Stop being so unreasonable! I only discovered of my powers less than a month ago!"

"That's more than enough time to learn how to control them." He snorted.

Refusing to take anymore, she glared at him before running off.

"Sakura-chan!" Quickly Tomoyo started to run after her friend.

The boy heaved a heavy sigh. Deep down he knew he was being a bit harsh but he had promised to Eriol-sama and his family that he could handle this and that everything would be fine. Damn it, it was all her fault! How could he possibly return home if he failed his mission? As heir to the Li throne failure was unacceptable. He also didn't wish to disappointment Eriol-sama. Being trained by the most powerful sorcerers in the lands and not being able to handle such a simple task would be humiliating to both him and his mentor.

_"Damnit, without her using magic I can still protect her, but for how long? I have no idea what will be waiting for her when she awakens the Guardians. I don't know if I'll be strong enough to protect her."_

The Emperors words rang through his mind, reminding him that he was still not strong enough. No… That wasn't true. He would prove his strength to Emperor, to his Mother, to Eriol-sama, to everyone… Yes he would-

He stopped, shaking his head. No, there was no time for this. He had to focus on the Princess and teach her how to control her powers.

She wouldn't attack him for she was afraid of hurting him, even when he attacked her, but… His eyes widened. Yes, if someone else were threatened then perhaps…

* * *

Slowly Tomoyo approached Sakura who was sitting silently on the top of a small hill staring into space. She frowned. "Sakura-chan, are you alright?" she queried softly.

The girl shook a little, startled by her friend's sudden presence. "Hai, I'm fine." She replied after quickly wiping the tears from her eyes.

Tomoyo knew that was a lie but didn't want to press the matter so instead she would try to comfort her friend. She placed her hand on Sakura's shoulder and took residence beside her. "I'm sorry that Tenjou-san is being so unreasonable."

The auburn haired girl stared in surprise then quickly shook her head. "Please don't. It's not your fault he's acting this way." After a few moments she let out a sigh. "I don't know, maybe he is right. I can't seem to control my powers at all. I-I just don't understand…. All those times before I was able to use them. Why not now? I wish I could talk to Mimura-san about it.

"I'm sure Onii-chan would be able to use his powers just fine if he were here instead of me. I'm sure he would be able to save Kinomoto for disaster…. I-I just feel so useless."

"Please stop talking like that!" cried Tomoyo, no longer wanting to hear her friend say such things about herself. "I assure you that you're doing a great job, and I am positive that you will find the Guardians soon enough and save Kinomoto. You just have to have faith in yourself."

"Faith?"

"Hai, I believe in you with all my heart!" replied the ivory haired girl, encouragingly.

Sakura frowned, her eyes fixated on the ground. Tomoyo believed in her but… "I…I don't think I can."

"But Sakura-"

"She's right you know." rang the voice of Li Syaoran, interrupting her. "If you don't have faith in yourself then there is no way you can do this."

Her fists tightened as she clenched on to her skirt, refusing to look at the boy. "What do you want, now?"

"I need you to clarify something for me."

Letting out a sigh she looked up, only to see the boy raise his arm. Her eyes narrowed. "What, you're going to attack me again!"

"Not you." He replied with a small smirk, and twisted his arm to point at the other girl beside her.

Her eyes widened in disbelief as she shot up. "What-what are you doing!"

He didn't reply, his eyes focused on the long haired girl. The silence was unnerving Sakura and she could no longer think properly. Ryoji-san…

Tomoyo glared at the young man. Was he going to betray them just as Ryoji had done? She couldn't stand the thought of being used as bait against her dear friend once again.

"Stop it!" cried Sakura. Despite how many times she yelled this, the silent boy refused to lower his arm.

"Why are you doing this! Tomoyo-chan has no magic!"

"I know that. However…" Drawing back he fired and reacting almost instantly Sakura leapt in front of and grabbed her friend.

The attack struggled to get through the strong barrier the young inexperienced sorceress had created and eventually backfired causing the attacker to leap out of the way to prevent getting hit by his own attack.

Sakura held her friend tightly in her arms, refusing to let go. Tomoyo fearfully looked up at her protector. "Sa-Sakura-chan…"

"Tomoyo-chan, are you aright?"

She gave a small nod and Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad." Apprehensively she let go and dragged herself up, her expression transforming from relief to rage the moment she laid eyes on Tomoyo's attacker.

"Why…Why did you attack Tomoyo-chan! You could have seriously hurt her!"

"Perhaps, but I knew you would intervene. And now I realise the source of your power." he stated triumphantly.

He turned and started to walk away when Sakura cried after him. "Wait!" Apologize to Tomoyo-chan now!" It wasn't a request, it was a demand.

He smirked at seeing the Princess become so aggressive. Anger was what she needed, anger to fuel her power.

The look of accomplishment on his face infuriated her even more. Who the hell did he think he was? How dare he attack her friend!

As he began walking away again, the girl's knees collapsed from underneath her, her heart racing rapidly as if attempting to break free from her chest.

What…What had just happened?

**Authors Notes: **Thank you to everyone who reviewed this chapter. I hope this one was alright. Gomen, I hope I didn't make Syaoran come off as too nasty. Any reviews or ideas on how I could improve would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading. Ja ne!


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